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       #Post#: 20--------------------------------------------------
       The Stranger
       By: Tigger Date: March 2, 2011, 1:03 pm
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       The Stranger
       
       This is very interesting and not the ending I had expected!!!!
       
       A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new
       to our small  Texas town.  From the beginning, Dad was
       fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to
       live with our  family.  The stranger was quickly accepted and
       was around  from then on.
       
       As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family.  In my
       young mind, he had a special niche.  My parents were
       complementary instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad
       taught me to obey.  But the stranger ... he was our storyteller.
       He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures,
       mysteries and comedies.
       
       If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science,
       he always knew the answers about  the past, understood the
       present and even seemed able to  predict the future!  He took my
       family to the first major league ball game.  He made me laugh,
       and he made me cry.   The stranger never stopped talking, but
       Dad didn't seem to mind.
       
       Sometimes,  Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were
       shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she
       would go  to the kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if
       she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)
       
       Dad  ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the
       stranger never felt obligated to honor them.  Profanity,  for
       example, was not allowed in our home ... Not from us, our
       friends or any visitors.  Our longtime visitor, however,  got
       away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made  my dad
       squirm and my mother blush.  My Dad didn't permit the liberal
       use of alcohol ...  But the stranger encouraged us to try it on
       a regular basis.  He  made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly
       and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too  freely!)
       about sex.  His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes
       suggestive, and generally embarrassing.
       
       I now know that my early concepts about  relationships were
       influenced strongly by the stranger.   Time after time, he
       opposed the values of my parents,  yet he was seldom
       rebuked... And NEVER asked to leave.
       
       More than fifty years have passed since  the stranger moved in
       with our family.  He has blended  right in and is not nearly as
       fascinating as he was at first.   Still, if you could walk into
       my parents' den today, you  would still find him sitting over in
       his corner, waiting for  someone to listen to him talk and watch
       him draw his  pictures.  His name?.......
       
       We just  call him 'TV.'
       
       (Note: This  should be required reading for every household!)
       
       He has a wife  now .... We call her 'Computer.'
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