Susan Beckett

There used to be a yogurt shop in Hemet which had some mind-blowing artwork on their wall. I always wondered if it was there for all the impatient customers waiting for their orders to be filled. It was a giant marine painting of all kinds of fish and deep-sea plant life. Embedded and well hidden within the huge watery panorama was another hard to see picture - the taunt was to find the obscure design. But even when you eventually found the hidden image, the next time you came back for yogurt, you usually had to find the hidden picture all over again. It drove me nuts.

Occasionally, Bob and I love driving into Orange County for time off. We mosey through the malls, rumble through the antique stores, and dine at Felix’s, our ‘to-die-for’ Cuban restaurant. I remember one time in particular we drove to OC and tried checking into our favorite hotel. Of course, the first thing the desk clerk asks you is, “Do you have reservations?” Well, we didn’t. We had never needed them before, but unfortunately, this time, there was some kind of convention going on, so unless we had that precious reservation, we were out of luck. So - we were out of luck!

Back in the day when I was in junior high, my parents took our family to the Grand Canyon for the mule ride to the bottom. Both my sister and I were used to horseback riding, so, of course, we thought the entire trip was just dandy. My parents on the other hand, had a more challenging time with the whole experience! We spent the night at the bottom and then saddled up the next morning for the ride out. My poor dad, unbeknownst to the rest of us, had snuck a towel into his pants for the ride out of the canyon. Once back at the rim and off his mule, my father, patting his sore bottom, stoically made this resolute declaration: “I will never, ever again ride a mule and from now on we are hiking this canyon!” Which, by the way, we did four times! Whether we rea

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan recounted the incredible story of a monk by the name of Tememachus, who lived around 400 AD. The monk followed a crowd into the Colosseum; he saw the gladiators come forth, stand before the Emperor, and say, ‘We who are about to die salute you.’ He quickly realized they were going to fight to the death for the entertainment of the crowds. He cried out, ‘In the Name of Christ, stop!’ But the voice was lost in the tumult there in the great Colosseum.

There’s an old story about four women who found themselves on the third floor of a burning building. Of course, they were practically paralyzed with fear, but afraid of being trapped in the elevator, they ran to the stairs and began their descent to safety. The stairwell was dark and filling quickly with smoke. It was truly terrifying for them but the women hung together as they descended. Suddenly, not quite halfway down, one of the women panicked and wouldn’t move another step. “I’m too afraid!” she declared. To which the leader in front firmly replied, “Then just do it afraid!”