PASSING THOUGHTS ABOUT LONG WALKS

If you are a parent or a grandparent there is no doubt that you have experienced some long walks in life.

I had a long walk last week when my car broke down two miles from home, but that is not the kind of walk I'm talking about. I'll explain:

Every Christmas, the parents of three grown children divided their holiday celebrations among the three different families. But with the difficulties involved in holiday preparation and extensive travel, sometimes they were tempted to throw up their hands and say, "It's too much! It's just not worth the effort." 

Whenever either of the parents got that feeling of exasperation, they would give the other a wink and say, "Long walk, dear, long walk," and laugh as they continued their holiday plans.

You see, "Long walk" was a code phrase. They began using it after hearing an old story about a young native boy who gave his missionary teacher an exquisite seashell as a Christmas gift. The boy had to walk exhausting miles to a particular bay which was the only place where such shells existed. 

"How wonderful of you to have traveled so far for this present," the teacher said. The boy's eyes lit up as he replied, "Long walk is part of the gift." For the missionary teacher, this was a gift of infinite value that no other could ever surpass.

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LONG WALK THAT NEVER HAPPENED:
A FUNNY (?) STORY

One day after a nasty streak of bad weather, a man asked his teenage son to take their dog for a long walk after school.

When he came home from work, the father found his son stretched out on the recliner in the living room, watching television.

The boy had the leash in his hand while the dog trotted happily away on the treadmill beside him.