princessmaine's Blog

I read this story and it reminded me that one random act of kindness can make a world of difference in one person's life. It is as follows...


One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door.

Instead of a meal, he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry and so she brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, "How much do I owe you?"

"You don't owe me anything," she replied. "Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness." He said, "Then I thank you from my heart." As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strengthened also. He had been ready to give up and quit.

Years later, that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease.

Dr. Howard Kelly* was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, he went down the hall of the hospital to her room. Dressed in his doctor's gown, he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day, he gave special attention to the case.

After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested from the business office to pass the final billing to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge, and the bill was sent to her room. She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally, she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She read these words:

"PAID IN FULL WITH ONE GLASS OF MILK..."
(Signed)
Dr. Howard Kelly

*Dr. Howard Kelly was a distinguished physician who, in 1895, founded the Johns Hopkins Division of Gynecologic Oncology at Johns Hopkins University. According to Dr. Kelly's biographer, Audrey Davis, the doctor was on a walking trip through Northern Pennsylvania one spring day when we stopped by a farm house for a drink of water.

 I recently posted a question about medical marijuana. It is proposed as follows:

  "I went to a friend's and a person I didn't know was there. This person was legally prescribed a prescription of marihuana in the State of Maine..

Ultimately, she ended up paying $500 to legally purchase something that usually goes for $300 to $400 on the black market.

Also, she is subject to State scrutiny and has to comply with a multitude of regulations. (For one, if she decides to grow her own, making it impossible for to provide a steady supply) and she is only allowed to grow six plants at any one time.)

Isn't it a shame what "sick" people in a free country have to go through to provide for themselves a medicine less toxic than aspirin?"

I won't quote what one replier wrote but this person basically challenged the fact that marijuana is is less toxic than aspirin.  This is the Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Decision of the Administrative Law Judge of the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) Francis L. Young dated September 6, 1988. 

 http://www.druglibrary.org/olsen/medical/young/young.html

This is the link for the full case and in part it reads:  

ACCEPTED SAFETY FOR USE UNDER MEDICAL SUPERVISION

With respect to whether or not there is "a lack of accepted safety
for use of [marijuana] under medical supervision", the record shows the
following facts to be uncontroverted.


Findings of Fact

          1.  Richard J. Gralla, M.D., an oncologist and Professor of
Medicine who was an Agency witness, accepts that in treating cancer
patients oncologists can use the cannabinoids with safety despite their
side effects.

          2.  Andrew T. Weil, M.D., who now practices medicine in Tucson,
Arizona and is on the faculty of the College of Medicine, University of
Arizona, was a member of the first team of researchers to perform a
Federal Government authorized study into the effects of marijuana on
human subjects.  This team made its study in 1968.  These researchers
determined that marijuana could be safely used under medical supervision.
In the 20 years since then Dr. Weil has seen no information that would
cause him to reconsider that conclusion.  There is no question in his
mind but that marijuana is safe for use under appropriate medical
supervision.

          3.  The most obvious concern when dealing with drug safety is
the possibility of lethal effects.  Can the drug cause death?

          4.  Nearly all medicines have toxic, potentially lethal
effects.  But marijuana is not such a substance.  There is no record in
the extensive medical literature describing a proven, documented
cannabis-induced fatality.

                                 - 56 -

5.  This is a remarkable statement. First, the record on
marijuana encompasses 5,000 years of human experience.  Second, marijuana
is now used daily by enormous numbers of people throughout the world.
Estimates suggest that from twenty million to fifty million Americans
routinely, albeit illegally, smoke marijuana without the benefit of
direct medical supervision.  Yet, despite this long history of use and
the extraordinarily high numbers of social smokers, there are simply no
credible medical reports to suggest that consuming marijuana has caused a
single death. (emphasis added)

          6.  By contrast aspirin, a commonly used, over-the-counter
medicine, causes hundreds of deaths each year.(Emphasis added)

          7.  Drugs used in medicine are routinely given what is called
an LD-50.  The LD-50 rating indicates at what dosage fifty percent of
test animals receiving a drug will die as a result of drug induced
toxicity.  A number of researchers have attempted to determine
marijuana's LD-50 rating in test animals, without success.  Simply
stated, researchers have been unable to give animals enough marijuana to
induce death.

          8.  At present it is estimated that marijuana's LD-50 is around
1:20,000 or 1:40,000.  In layman terms this means that in order to induce
death a marijuana smoker would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times as
much marijuana as is contained in one marijuana cigarette.  NIDA-supplied
marijuana cigarettes weigh approximately .9 grams.  A smoker would
theoretically have to consume nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within
about fifteen minutes to induce a lethal response.

          9.  In practical terms, marijuana cannot induce a lethal
response as a result of drug-related toxicity.

                                 - 57 -

10.  Another common medical way to determine drug safety is
called the therapeutic ratio.  This ratio defines the difference between
a therapeutically effective dose and a dose which is capable of inducing
adverse effects.

         11. A commonly used over-the-counter product like aspirin has a
therapeutic ratio of around 1:20.  Two aspirins are the recommended dose
for adult patients.  Twenty times this dose, forty aspirins, may cause a
lethal reaction in some patients, and will almost certainly cause gross
injury to the digestive system, including extensive internal bleeding.

         12.  The therapeutic ratio for prescribed drugs is commonly
around 1:10 or lower.  Valium, a commonly used prescriptive drug, may
cause very serious biological damage if patients use ten times the
recommended (therapeutic) dose.

         13.  There are, of course, prescriptive drugs which have much
lower therapeutic ratios.  Many of the drugs used to treat patients with
cancer, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis are highly toxic.  The
therapeutic ratio of some of the drugs used in antineoplastic therapies,
for example, are regarded as extremely toxic poisons with therapeutic
ratios that may fall below 1:1.5.  These drugs also have very low LD-50
ratios and can result in toxic, even lethal reactions, while being
properly employed.

         14.  By contrast, marijuana's therapeutic ratio, like its LD-50,
is impossible to quantify because it is so high.

         15.  In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many
foods we commonly consume.  For example, eating ten raw potatoes can
result in a toxic response.  By comparison, it is physically impossible
to eat enough marijuana to induce death.

         16.  Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest
therapeutically

                                 - 58 -

active substances known to man. (Emphasis added)

 Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day

Out in the yard with your wife and children
Working on some stage in LA
Did you stand there in shock at the site of
That black smoke rising against that blue sky
Did you shout out in anger
In fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cry

Did you weep for the children
Who lost their dear loved ones
And pray for the ones who don't know
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left below

Did you burst out in pride
For the red white and blue
The heroes who died just doing what they do
Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer
And look at yourself to what really matters

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith hope and love are some good things he gave us
And the greatest is love

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day
Teaching a class full of innocent children
Driving down some cold interstate
Did you feel guilty cause you're a survivor
In a crowded room did you feel alone
Did you call up your mother and tell her you love her
Did you dust off that bible at home
Did you open your eyes and hope it never happened
Close your eyes and not go to sleep
Did you notice the sunset the first time in ages
Speak with some stranger on the street
Did you lay down at night and think of tomorrow
Go out and buy you a gun
Did you turn off that violent old movie you're watching
And turn on "I Love Lucy" reruns
Did you go to a church and hold hands with some stranger
Stand in line and give your own blood
Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family
Thank God you had somebody to love

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith hope and love are some good things he gave us
And the greatest is love

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith hope and love are some good things he gave us
And the greatest is love

The greatest is love
The greatest is love

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day

Lyrics sung by Alan Jackson

He was driving home one evening,

In his beat up Pontiac

When an old lady flagged him down, 
Her Mercedes had a flat
He could see that she was frightened, 
Standing out there in the snow 
'Til he said I'm here to help you ma'am, 
By the way my name is Joe

She said I'm from St. Louis, 
And I'm only passing through
I must have seen a hundred cars go by, 
This is awful nice of you
When he changed the tire, 
And closed her trunk
And was about to drive away, 
She said how much do I owe you
Here's what he had to say

You don't owe me a thing, I've been there too
Someone once helped me out, 
Just the way I'm helping you
If you really want to pay me back, 
Here's what you do
Don't let the chain of love end with you

Well a few miles down the road, 
The lady saw a small cafe
She went in to grab a bite to eat, 
And then be on her way
But she couldn't help but notice, 
How the waitress smiled so sweet
And how she must've been eight months along, 
And dead on her feet

And though she didn't know her story, 
And she probably never will
When the waitress went to get her change, 
From a hundred dollar bill
The lady slipped right out the door, 
And on a napkin left a note 
There were tears in the waitress's eyes, 
When she read what she wrote

You don't owe me a thing, 
I've been there too
Someone once helped me out, 
Just the way I'm helping you
If you really want to pay me back, 
Here's what you do
Don't let the chain of love end with you

That night when she got home from work, 
The waitress climbed into bed
She was thinkin' about the money, 
And what the lady's note had said
As her husband lay there sleeping, 
She whispered soft and low
Everything's gonna be alright, I love you, Joe 

Lyrics sung by Clay Walker

 Time passes by so quickly

But I guess I thought you'd be here forever
I never even had a chance
To say goodbye
There's so many things to tell you
Left unsaid until now

Can you hear me when I talk to you?
Do the words I say ever make it through?
Can you hear me when I talk to you?
'Cause I'd give anything if I knew

Every night I have the same dream
The one where you get to hold me
We laugh and talk until the morning
And then you vanish,yeah
It always leaves me feeling helpless
When I wake up and you're not there

Can you hear me when I talk to you?
Do you know how much I'd love to be with you?
Can you hear me when I talk to you?
'Cause I'd give anything if I just knew

Living in this world without you
I constantly search through my memories
Hoping that I find some treasures
That I passed over,yeah
All that I took for granted
Means so much now and I won't let it go

Can you hear me when I talk to you?
'Cause I never said some things that I meant to
Can you hear me when I talk to you?
'Cause I'd give anything if I just knew

You know I never said some things that I meant to
Can you hear me when I talk to you?
'Cause I'd give anything if I just knew

I miss you Mom & Dad

Lyrics sang by Ashley Gearing