Happy First Birthday to FMMW!
Written by Braiden on March 25, 2011
It was with a great deal of excitement and pride that we launched the Five More Minutes With website last year on March 26, and it has been an exciting and ultimately gratifying ride ever since.
During our first year in operation, we’ve published more than 60 Featured Stories, I’ve written 65 Editor’s Notes, and we have more than 150 individual pieces of content on the site. I was too lazy to count the number of photos I’ve posted; suffice to say several hundred sunrises, sunsets, floral arrangement, and cloud formations have graced Five More Minutes With pages.
We’ve welcomed guest columnist John Paul Carter and printed part of a memoir by Seattle writer Teri Citterman.
Mom remains the most popular category so far; dog stories outpace cat stories by almost two to one; the same with grandmothers versus grandfathers. We even received a story about an errant wild alligator!
We’ve held contests honoring mothers, fathers, lost loves, and the winter holidays. And created special sections of the FMMW website that feature radio interviews and film. There’s even a mobile version of FMMW for your smartphone!
We are well on our way to our ultimate goal: to publish a book in whatever form it may take (print or digital), so please say tuned and please continue to share your stories with us.
And a special thanks to each and every contributor! Whether you gifted me with a story, a comment, a testimonial, or just by reading this website’s edgy, “out there” content, we thank you and applaud you.
Goals during our second year of operation? To keep spreading the good word through personal referrals, reaching out over the Internet to sites and individuals with similar mindsets and goals, and even more presence and involvement with the social media on Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin.
Comments and Praise
Just Say, “I Love You”
Written by Pat Nowak on March 24, 2011
Pat Nowak and her late husband
In thirty seconds, it is all over.
My husband, the major breadwinner in the family, was killed instantly in an auto accident. I never had a chance to say good-bye.
If I had five more minutes I would have say, “I love you,” as we often, in our haste to begin our morning, forgot to.
My family suffered after the death; so many things were left hanging without resolution.
I have learned that it is imperative that we live each day committed to saying, “I love you,” and working in harmony; you never know if there will be a tomorrow.
Editor’s Note: Pat Nowak is the author of “The ABC’s of Widowhood: A Guide to Life After Death.” Visit her online for additional information and to order her book.
Comments and Praise
One Huge Regret
Written by Jennifer Covello on March 22, 2011
My need for perfection kept me from sharing my award-winning baby journal and my business with my mom the last time I saw her.
I brought the journal with me and was waiting for that ‘perfect’ moment when I visited my mom in the hospital. She was being treated for lung cancer and while I knew her days were numbered, I had no idea how numbered.
I spent three days with her in the hospital arguing with myself–show her/don’t show her.
I returned home not showing her my baby journal nor telling her about my new business thinking, I’ll tell her this weekend when I come to visit again.
But that was the last time I would see or speak to my mom. She passed away only days later.
Even though I know she “knows” all about my business now, I put this on my list of HUGE regrets.
What I wouldn’t do to see her face and her reaction had she seen what I’d accomplished.
Editor’s Note: Jennifer Covello is owner/founder of Frittabello, which offers “inspired gifts for a baby’s life journey.”
Comments and Praise
Appreciating the Important People in Our Lives
Written by Braiden on March 21, 2011
Last month, Bruce Hammit, a customer-service director in Illinois, submitted a very worthwhile suggestion on the way he thanks people now for their impact on his life. He says:
“Every New Year’s Eve I call one person who has been important in my life and I thank them for helping me grow as an individual.
I have called relatives, past teachers, and close friends.
I also have sent letters to important people in my life letting them know how much I have appreciated having them as friends.
So I guess I would advise that you not wait for the final five minutes.
What I do helps me know that I have told loved ones of my appreciation for them before they pass away.”
Have you thanked someone important to you today?
Comments and Praise
The Hurried Wedding
Written by Jeani Ziering on March 18, 2011
My father died many years ago. He was 46 at the time. I was 21.
I have often thought that losing my father at that time in my life has also changed the course of my life. I planned an impromptu wedding with the man I was dating. The ceremony was supposed to take place in the hospital so that my father could participate. My dear father died the night before the wedding.
My first thought on hearing the news was, “I’m off the hook.”
However, that turned out not to be true.
Immediately after the funeral, my mother planned a large wedding. I was distraught over my father’s death and was unable to voice my fears about getting married. It was very foolish of me.
The marriage turned out to be very tumultuous, and eventually ended in a nasty divorce.
I feel that if I could have had another five minutes with my father, I could have asked for his guidance and advice.
Perhaps I would have married anyway; perhaps not.
But at least I would not have felt that it was something that I was rushed into in order to please everyone other than myself.
The idea of 5 minutes more with a loved one is very ironic to me. Over the years since my father’s death, I have often had dreams where he appeared and offered his kindness and comfort.
When he started to disappear, I often said, “Daddy, please stay. At least give me another five minutes.”
Editor’s Note: Jeani Ziering, president of Ziering Interiors, often writes about interior-design topics. She is also currently working on a novel.
Comments and Praise
Touched By an Angel
Written by Pamela Haven on March 11, 2011
I had an invention and this guy kept wanting to invest. I kept saying NO for more than a year.
Finally, a set of circumstances happened and he became the investor. After he had put in about $15,000, I said, “You better come out to my home so we can talk.”
I had never sat down with him before this; he said it wasn’t necessary.
When I asked him what he wanted in return, he leaned forward and said, “NOTHING. Just call me your ‘Angel.'”
I laughed and said, “No everyone wants something ..so what do you want?”
“No, you don’t understand. I am your Angel.”
Still with me laughing, he went on to say, “Lots of people have silent angels.”
Okay. Well he wasn’t crazy, He already had a net worth of over a million dollars, so it wasn’t like he wanted money from me that I did not have.
He had told me that as a child his dad had told him, “Son, find an invention and you will have your greatest riches.”
So he went on to develop his own invention. . .something to do with bicycle spokes.
About 12 months into working with him, he came down with a cold. Eighteen months into things he told me I wouldn’t see him for a week.
We had always talked daily, and I knew that he would want to know the five big things that had transpired the first week of April 1991.
As I sat wondering where he was, I said out loud, “Lord where is he?”
I kid you not. . .the name of a hospital and city I had never known popped into my head.
It was 9 p.m., and I went to the phone and asked Information for the hospital in the exact town that came to mind.
I was quickly transferred to Cardiac ICU.
He was there!!! Goose bumps popped up on my arms.
I called the next day and spoke with him; he said he would be out in a few days; nothing to worry about.
Long story short here. . .I ended up at the hospital at his side ( the only person there the entire time) when he passed away 18 days after he was admitted. The lump in his chest turned out to be cancer.
Meeting his mother at that point, when she was 93 years old, she told me, “Pamela, his daddy told his as a kid to find an invention and he would have his greatest riches.”
I felt my friend’s spirit leave that morning before his heart flat-lined. There is no pain in death as the spirit is gone before the body stops.
This has changed my entire life, in more ways than one.
My “angel” left me his company. After I met his parents those last two days, we became good friends until they too passed away. His father was a probate attorney and wanted none of my angel’s riches. They were paid into the company with the understanding that, “He did with his money what he wanted.”
Blessed by an Angel? I would say so.
