Store Owner Shows Robber Mercy Update

I heard this story back in June of 2009. A Long Island convenience store owner confronted by a bat-wielding would-be robber said Tuesday he decided to show mercy on the man after he collapsed in tears claiming he was only committing the crime to support his starving family.

Instead of getting loot from a stickup, the store owner provided the man with $40 and a loaf of bread, but only if he promised never to rob again.

"This was a grown man, crying like a baby," Mohammad Sohail, owner of the Shirley Express convenience store about 65 miles east of New York City, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

The would-be thief dropped to his knees and begged for forgiveness, Sohail said.

"He started crying that he was out of work and was trying to feed his hungry family," he said. "I felt bad for him. I mean, this wasn't some kid."


While watching the news this morning I heard this wonderful update!


The Shirley convenience store owner who made national headlines in June after surveillance cameras caught him showing mercy to a subdued would-be robber says he lives by a simple rule: "When you do good things, good things come back."

So Mohammad Sohail said he was not surprised when he found a $50 bill and an apology note in the mail Wednesday.

The note said the robber had a new baby, a new job and had turned his life around!

There are so many stories of hate and violence. I thought it was great to hear a good ending for once.

Make Mine Freedom (1948)

This Cartoon Seemed Far-Fetched In 1948

Wordless Wednesday - Letting GO

I had to share this picture I was sent today. God bless all the men and women who fight to keep us safe and God bless their families.

Stay at Home Mom vs Working Mom

This was always an easy question for me to answer. I LOVE being a stay at home mom. I love being able to be there when the kids get off the bus or volunteer at the school when they needed me. But recently I decided to go back to school. This was also an easy answer for me. I always said I would go back one day. I wanted a college degree. I wanted to prove to myself and my kids that i could do it. So this year when my youngest went to full day kindergarten, I decided to back and finish my degree.

This past month has been so much fun. I have enjoyed sitting in lecture and participating in labs. I have learned so much interesting stuff and I have met some great people. Everything was going great. That is until this week. Monday night my oldest son got sick. We were up most of the night and he couldn't keep anything down. He stayed home from school on Tuesday. Luckily all my classes are on Monday, Wednesday and Friday so I didn't miss class.Then came to problem. He was not well enough to back to school on Wednesday and I had a major test that I could not miss. What was I to do? Luckily my Mom-in-law said she would keep him while I went to class to take my test.

This whole problem was fixed and the day went on fine. But then I started feeling bad. I was feeling like I let my son down because I was not there to take care of him. I had to rely on someone else to take care of my son. It just got me rethinking this going back to school thing.

Do I stay at home all the time for the chance that my children might need me? Is that fair for me? But is it fair to my kids to not have their mom whenever they need me? Then when I do graduate and get a job how will that change things? I could miss class if I had to but will I be bale to miss work every time the kids need me?

This has just given me a lot of new things to think about. How do other working moms handle this stuff?

Wordless Wednesday - Meatball

I'm Still Here

WOW! I didn't realize it had been so long since my last post. I have been so busy. As some of you might remember I have gone back to college to finish my degree. I am only going to class three days a week, but I have to do my normal household chores the rest of the time. Add in football practice and a vacation and that leaves me with NO free time. I am currently blogging while trying to watch a college football game.

So school is going good, but it is keeping me really busy. My professors don't seem to care I have a family at home to take care of. It hasn't been that bad. It is just taking me a while to get used to juggling it all.

Last weekend my kids and I flew to Cape Cod Massachusetts to surprise my grandfather with a big family reunion. We had family fly in from all over the country. Our last family reunion was in 1995. Since then many of us had married and had kids. It was so great to see everyone and my Grandfather was completely surprised. He had no idea.

While I was there I got to visit one of my favorite town in the WORLD, Chatham, MA. It is such a beautiful town and ha not changed since I was a kid. Yes this is the same town that was visited by several Great White Sharks. We were actually at the lighthouse beach (where the sharks were spotted) during the time they were there. Luckily the water is too cold to swim in especially for us South Carolinians. Here are a few pictures from our trip to share with you and my family.

I love you ALL and I had a GREAT time.

Wordless Wednesday - Cape Cod Here I Come

Children's Resale

Today I got some GREAT deals on children's clothes. Well actually only my little girl got clothes because there were no cute girls clothes. But that is a completely different blog to be done on a completely different day.

Twice a year my little ole home town does a children's clothing resale. People all over town bring their clothes with little price tags on it to sell. Three days later you pick up your check.

Well I wasn't going to miss out on some great deals. And great deals I did find. i got three pairs of shoes, 4 shirts, 5 dresses including a Christmas smocked dress, and two sweaters all for $60. I was happy.

To top things off I made $128 selling my kids old stuff! What a great time!

Quotable Sunday

I have been reading some great Quotable Sunday pots lately and thought why should everyone else have all the fun. So this week I am going to give it a try. In honor of my first week back at school, some school quotes.

The difference between school and life? In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson. ~Tom Bo

If there were no schools to take the children away from home part of the time, the insane asylums would be filled with mothers. ~Edgar W. Howedett

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education. ~Mark Twain

You can get all A's and still flunk life. ~Walker Percy

Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school. ~Albert Einstein

If you think education is expensive, try ignorance. ~Attributed to both Andy McIntyre and Derek Bok

Wordless Wednesday - Back to School

I always take pictures of the kids on the first day so they decided I needed one on my first day back! I had a blast! I think this will be a good year!