Morning Edition - 3/15/06

Taking a Bite Out Of Bad Behavior
Garrick Hudson, 14, thought he could eat candy in class and get away with it. When asked to spit it out he refused and was asked to leave the class by his teacher, Caroline Kolb. When Hudson returned for his books, Kolb allegedly struggled with him and both fell to the floor, where Hudson bumped his head and Kolb bit Hudson’s back. Two students say they witnessed the biting and other teachers say Kolb admitted to chewing on Hudson when speaking to them after the incident. Kolb was terminated by the Kentucky school system. Her termination letter stated she had been repeatedly warned not to be physically confrontational with her students. Kolb has pleaded not-guilty in her criminal case.

You Stole My Heart, But I Give You My Kidney
Two years ago Bill Mokeler and Paul Sagon legally married in Massachusetts. Sagon suffered from kidney disease and was on dialysis to keep him alive. The beauty of their story is that Sagon admonished Mokeler and his own sister, a single mom, not to donate a kidney to him. Mokeler, who suffers from an extremely severe case of arthritis, stopped his ibuprofen medication and endured long-term pain before being tested and found to be a match for his love, Sagon. For Valentine’s Day this year, Mokeler gave Sagon a very special gift - a life free of dialysis treatment. The two are doing well and recovering. The surgery was a success. Mokeler and Sagon are proof that true love endures all.

I think Of You and Smile With My Heart
You work 40 hours a week plus and you handle all of life’s fast-balls with aplomb, but who will remember you? What have you done today to make you feel proud? As I rode the train home during rush hour last night I took the time to look at those around me. I smiled at a baby in a stroller and with genuine warmth, the baby smiled back. It made me think of how many little things we ignore or really don’t even see anymore. How many of life’s little moments pass us by and go unnoticed because we’re too busy going on to the next big project. Will we look back and feel regret that our children are grown, our jobs have consumed us and our responsibilities have eaten away at our very souls? Take notice. Enjoy your life. Your job is important, but it is not your very existence. Your bills are important, but Verizon will not have a special recognition at your funeral service. Smile even when folks are too jaded to smile back; laugh even when you think others didn’t find the joke funny; tell someone how much you love them, even if you don’t think they’ll say anything in return. No one around you may change, but you, your mood, your attitude and your memory will be brighter. We will remember you for the smile your brought to our hearts.

On Blast
Maybe it hurt so badly because you were really in love. We sometimes find it very easy to tell the story of how we were terribly hurt by someone who we truly love(d). Today, we’re taking a completely different approach to the same story. Think of that one true love that broke your heart and tell us what about him/her made you fall in love. What moment in time with them is your fondest memory? What quality about him/her is still important to you when considering new partners?

Keep passin’ the open windows...