GREATEST LOVE STORY IN CHINA

I love roaming around the net and reading different blogs....incidentally,I stumbled into a blogsite by the name almichael who is a prolific blogger,as I should say... with his current entry telling about a Greatest Love Story In China.
The story is very dramatic somewhat against all odds.The story was sent to him by his friend and he posted it.....I love to post it here also with the hope we can get something out of it...


An incredible love story has come out of China recently and managed to touch the world.. It is a story of a man and an older woman who ran off to live and love each other in peace for over half a century.

The 70-year-old Chinese man who hand-carved over 6,000 stairs up a mountain for his 80-year-old wife has passed away in the cave which has been the couple’s home for the last 50 years. Over 50 years ago, Liu Guojiang a 19 year-old boy, fell in love with a 29 year-old widowed mother named Xu Chaoqin…

In a twist worthy of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, friends and relatives criticized the relationship because of the age difference and the fact that Xu already had children.
At that time, it was unacceptable and immoral for a young man to love an older woman.. To avoid the market gossip and the scorn of their communities, the couple decided to elope and lived in a cave in Jiangjin County in Southern ChongQing Municipality .



In the beginning, life was harsh as hey had nothing, no electricity or even food. They had to eat grass and roots they found in the mountain, and Liu made a kerosene lamp that they used to light up their lives.

Xu felt that she had tied Liu down and repeatedly asked him, ‘Are you regretful? Liu always replied, ‘As long as we are industrious, life will improve..’

In the second year of living in the mountain, Liu began and continued for over 50 years, to hand-carve the steps so that his wife could get down the mountain easily.

Half a century later in 2001, a group of adventurers were exploring the forest and were surprised to find the elderly couple and the over 6,000 hand-carved steps. Liu MingSheng, one of their seven children said, ‘My parents loved each other so much, they have lived in seclusion for over 50 years and never been apart a single day. He hand carved more than 6,000 steps over the years for my mother’s convenience, although she doesn’t go down the mountain that much.’

The couple had lived in peace for over 50 years until last week. Liu, now 72 years, returned from his daily farm work and collapsed. Xu sat and prayed with her husband as he passed away in her arms. So in love with Xu, was Liu, that no one was able to release the grip he had on his wife’s hand even after he had passed away.

‘You promised me you’ll take care of me, you’ll always be with me until the day I died, now you left before me, how am I going to live without you?’

Xu spent days softly repeating this sentence and touching her husband’s black coffin with tears rolling down her cheeks.

In 2006, their story became one of the top 10 love stories from China , collected by the Chinese Women Weekly. The local government has decided to preserve the love ladder and the place they lived as a museum, so this love story can live forever.

SPENDING TIME

Last year,I posted some inspirational stories that brought tears and touched our hearts.I truly love reading anecdotes or inspirational story.They do change our lives and give us moment to think profoundly.
Again,here I am sharing with you a story to live by..which I've got from Phils. Star Daily news paper,quoted from the column of Wilson Lee, a professional columnist.This story was also sent to him from another Phils.Star reader by the name Hans Henry Wong.
"This was what Wilson Lee comments on the story: It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life.We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us,those close to our hearts.



A man came home from work late,tired and irritated,to find his five-year old son waiting for him at the door.
"Daddy, may I ask you a question?" the son asked. "Yeah sure,what is it?" replied the man.
"Daddy,how much do you make an hour?" "That's none of your business.Why do you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily.
"I just want to know.Please tell me,how much do you make an hour?" "If you must know,I make 100Php an hour?"
"Oh,"the little boy replied,with his head down."Daddy,may I please borrow 50Php?" The father was furious,"If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense,then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed.Think about why you are being so selfish.I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior."
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions only.How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?
After abut an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that 50Php and he really didn't ask money very often.The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.
"Are you asleep,son?" He asked. " No Daddy,I'm awake," replied the boy. "I've been thinking,maybe I was too hard on you earlier," said the man."It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you.Here's the 50Php you asked for."
The little boy sat straight up and smiled."Oh,thank you daddy!" Then reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled-up bills.The man,seeing that the boy already had money,started to get angry again.The little boy slowly counted out his money,and then looked up at his father.
"Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the father grumbled. "Because I didn't have enough,but now I do," the little boy replied. "Daddy, I have 100Php now.Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow.I would like to have dinner with you." The father was crushed.He put his arms around his little son,and begged for forgiveness.

"Do remember to share that 100Php worth of your time with someone you love.If we die tomorrow,the company that we are working for today can easily replace us in a matter of days.But the family and friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.And come to think of it,we pour ourselves more into work than into our family.
Money is not everything,we can earn yesterday's money back,but we can't earn the time that we lost yesterday.Time is as precious as gold,but no amount of gold on earth can buy back time that has passed.
We are all equal in the sense that God gives us all 24hours per day.How do we wisely spend time or waste it? How do we invest our time? How do we maximize the efficiency of our really most valuable resource?"

A TOUCHING STORY TO LIVE BY

I felt so down and frustrated this week...sorry, I can't bring them out in here.Sometimes,life is unfair but if I started to look up...things changed easily with a satisfying answer.I came across with this story when I checked my friendster...and I felt like posting them here...the story is posted upon the original context without changing the grammar or any errors appear in here.The story goes like this:

There was an
atheist couple who had a child. The
couple never told their daughter
anything about the Lord. One night
when the little girl was 5 years old,
the parents fought with each other and
the Dad shot the Mom, right in front
of the child. Then, the dad shot
himself! The little girl watched it
all. She then was sent to a foster
home. The foster mother was a
Christian and took the child to
church. On the first day of Sunday
School, the foster mother told the
teacher that the girl had never heard
of Jesus, and to have patience with
her. The teacher held up a picture of
Jesus and said, "Does anyone know who
this is?" The little girl said, "I
do,
that's the man who was holding me
the night my parents died."

RENT-A-FAMILY

One of the topics in my Man to Man class with the Koreans...was Rent-A-Family.I could not hardly believe that there is such a thing like this.
There are a number of rent-a-family companies in Japan.One in Chiba, for instance, is called Japan Efficiency Headquarters.Elderly parents often do not live with their oldest son's family, as was almost the case before the war.Further weakening the tie between parents and their grown children are the long hours the children put in at work.
Rent-A-Family companies say business is booming.Japan Efficiency Headquarters, for example, has 80 people on its waiting list.
The company's president says,"Our purpose is to fill a hole in the heart".
Not all Japanese are enthusiastic about rent-a-family companies. A Japanese professor who specializes in aging says,"Personality, it is beyond my understanding," and a Japanese sociologist says simply,"it is very sad."
And it is seriously true...good thing that we don't have that here in the Philippines...Mabuhay for the Filipinos...

PUPPIES FOR SALE (A STORY TO LIVE BY)

Last Saturday,was a good and bright seventh day of the week.Amidst of the disturbing weather,we managed to hold a very holistic and solemn worship....please don't get me wrong..I am a Seventh Day Adventist Christian.
An invited speaker from the Caribbean area, jokingly shared some stories for us to be entertained specially the students.
But one story that deeply sounds so serious and paused you for awhile, was a story made by his own version.
Eventually, I had heard this story a million times and even read them in the internet...but it's really good and made you think that not everyone goes with easy flaws of life.
The story goes like this:

A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the pups and set about Nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he Felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the Eyes of a little boy.
Mister," he said, "I want to buy one of your puppies."
"Well," said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, "these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money."
The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?"
"Sure," said the farmer.
And with that he let out a whistle,"Here,Dolly!" he called.
Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight.

As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared; this One noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up....
"I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt.
The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, "Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would."
With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself To a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need Someone who understands."

The world is full of people who need someone who understands.