The Stranger

This anonymous  untitled piece was offered by someone to our local paper a few years back, they said it should be a must read for every home in America. I whole heartily agree!
I thought it was great , so I am sharing it with you all here.
 I also gave it the title The Stranger because I thought it suited it well.    I have shared this in the past, but I like it so well I am reposting!

    The Stranger
A few months before I was born
my Dad met a stranger who was
new to our small town.
From the beginning, Dad was
fascinated with this enchanting
new comer and soon invited him
to live with our family.

The stranger was quickly accepted and was
around to welcome me into the world a few months later.

As I grew up , I never questioned his place in my family.
In my mind he had a special niche.

My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me
the word of God, and dad taught me to obey it.

But the stranger? He was our story teller.
He would keep us spell bound 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 to be able
to predict the future!

He took my family too the first major league ball game.
He made me laugh, and he made me cry.
The stranger never stoped talking, but my 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 her room and read her books.
( I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)

Dad ruled our house hold with certain moral convictions,
but this 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 long time visitor,
however, got away with four letter words that burned my ears,
and made my dad squirm and my mom blush.

My Dad was a teetotaler who didn't permit alcohol
in the home, not even for cooking. But the stranger
encouraged us to try it on regular basis.
He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes distinguished.

He talked freely ( much to freely) about sex.
His comments were sometimes blatant,
sometimes suggestive,and generally embarrassing.

I know my early concepts about relationships were influenced
strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he apposed 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 as fascinating as he was at first.

Still, if you were to 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 T.V.



( I am so happy to say, we do not have that stranger in our home!!)