a heartwarmer : just imagine ~ welcome to heartwarmers ~ http : / / www . heartwarmers . com the best thing to happen to mornings since the sun ! your morning thought for the day : retirement at 65 is ridiculous . when i was 65 i still had pimples . - - george burns it ' s summer vacation time and parents will soon be hearing from their kids that they ' re bored . one of the biggest regrets we hear from the older generation , is that kids lack the playful imagination that was common a generation or two ago . back in the " olden days " , kids knew how to entertain themselves with surprisingly little . there was no such thing as playstation . kids ran outside to play kick - the - can in a game that was shockingly not organized by adults . they actually did it themselves . today , mike shares some thoughts about kids and modern imagination - - or lack thereof . . . what do you think ? support our sponsors they keep our service priceless . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ hundreds of our readers are saving a small fortune . . . heartwarmer , petwarmer and kidwarmer subscribers are discovering the tremendous benefits of using tel 3 advantage to make long distance and international calls - - some saving 90 % ! get started now by calling : 800 - 330 - 6897 . when asked for your " activation code " say : 311 - 673 . or you can click here to get complete details and sign up online : http : / / www . pocketwarmers . com / c _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ get free software for your computer hundreds of titles to choose from . you only pay postage . in fact , order 4 disks and get free postage for the 5 th . http : / / www . pocketwarmers . com / d just imagine by michael t . smith when i married ginny , i gained a new son , daughter and four grandsons . i became an instant grandpa . over the july 4 th holiday , i got to meet my new daughter and her three boys for the first time . it took a day for my new grandsons to warm up to me . the first day they stared at me , perhaps wondering what they were supposed to do with this man , who they were told is " grandpa . " i waited patiently . i knew boys like to play . they ' d come to me in their own time . on day two , the oldest two were doing summersaults over my lap . the youngest , ben , took a little longer , but yesterday he raced me across the yard thirty times and won every time . the weekend brought back memories of my own childhood . we had such imaginations . in our minds , a tree was a tower to spot approaching bad guys , a big rock became a mountain , a fallen log a space ship headed to the stars . we had toys , but we had to use our imagination , not like the new toys i see my grandkids with . our toys didn ' t talk , and if they did , you pulled a string to make it work . we had blocks to build , crayons to create , trucks and cars to push . they were simple toys that required imagination . i thought about the toys in my garage , the ones i saved , when my children outgrew them . they were simple and needed their imagination to work . mr . potato head allowed them to learn parts of the body and giggle at the funny face with an ear where its mouth should have been . i still have an old plastic phone . it has a dial to turn , a bell that rings when you push a button , and that ' s it . it doesn ' t talk , squawk , beep or move around the room . it ' s simple and was used when they played house , nurse , doctor , and secretary . i have a toy doctor ' s bag , with all the plastic doctor ' s tools . i remember all the broken bones , cuts , bangs , scratches and aches my daughter repaired as i lay in her office moaning . most toys today do it all . we don ' t need imagination - - it comes in a box . video games that take us into another world or reality , talking toys , with vocabularies better than most people , computerized toys to teach the alphabet . kids sit and have imagination brought to them . the teaching toys are great , but children tire of them - - it ' s like being in school . when my son was young and tired of his toys , he would come to me and say , " dad , i ' m bored . " " go find something to do , " i ' d reply . " i don ' t know what to do . " " go outside and find a friend . " " naaa ! i don ' t want to do that . " " use your imagination . " " huh ? " he asked . " well , when i was young . . . " you know the routine . sports is the same . we ' re entertained for hours watching someone else have fun doing what they ' re good at . wouldn ' t it be better to be playing yourself ? if we don ' t like the sports available to watch , we create new ones . it doesn ' t matter what , people will pay to see it , because they need to be entertained . i haven ' t heard of world championship worm digging , but if someone offered a large cash price , people would buy tickets to scream at the contestants . i worry . are we becoming a society that needs outside influence to have fun ? i think i ' ll go climb a tree . maybe there ' s a pirate ship on the horizon or someone is attacking my castle . just imagine . - - michael t . smith michael lives in new jersey with his new wife and son . from our mailbag : ( in response to last week ' s story , cinderella men ) dear heartwarmers : last week ' s heartwarming story opened a door to memory lane . i too , was born in the 30 s and felt some of the poverty of that time . i remember my mom and dad who never complained of the fatigue that was so ever present in their lives . we were very fortunate in as much as we always had plenty of food and warm shelter . we had a garden and salvaged every edible product available - - even certain " weeds " that were quite tasty after mother got all the spices in them . i had several beautiful dresses made from feed sacks that i wore with pride ! we were very poor , but so rich indeed because we had love and the knowledge that god was upper most in our lives , and it taught us lessons that had never been printed in the books . i deeply appreciate those lessons of long ago because they have taught me how to handle the tough times we have encountered in this life of prosperity and promise . thank you again for your lovely story . god bless . - - do you enjoy heartwarmers ? 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