Please read to the very end

I've never thought of it this way before, until I got this email from a friend.

A man and his dog were walking along a road.

The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.

He remembered dying and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He

wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road.

It looked like fine marble.

At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

When he was standing before it, he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like

mother-of-pearl and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold.

He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one

side.

When he was close enough, he called out,

Excuse me, where are we?

This is Heaven, sir, the man answered.

Wow! Would you happen to have some water? the man asked.

Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up. The man

gestured, and the gate began to open. Can my friend, gesturing toward his dog, come in,

too? the traveller asked.

I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets.

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he

had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another tall hill, he came to a dirt road leading

through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed.

There was no gate.

As he approached the opening in the fence, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and

reading a book.

Excuse me! he called to the man. Do you have any water?

Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, Come on in.

How about my friend here? the traveller gestured to the dog.

There should be a bowl by the pump, said the man.

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a

bowl beside it.

The traveller filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the

dog.

When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the

tree.

What do you call this place? the traveller asked.

This is Heaven, he answered.

Well, that's confusing, the traveller said. The man down the road said that was Heaven,

too.'

Oh, you mean the place with the fake gold street and artificial pearly gates? Nope. That's

Hell.

Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?

No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their friends behind.

So-o-o-o, here is the moral of this story. Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep forwarding

stuff to us without writing a word.

Maybe this will explain it.

When you are very busy, but still want to keep in touch, guess what you do? You forward emails!

When you have nothing to say, but still want to keep contact, you forward jokes!

When you have something to say, but don't know what, and don't know how . . . . You forward

stuff!

A 'Forward' lets you know that . . .

. . . You are still remembered,

. . . You are still important,

. . . You are still cared for.

So, next time if you get a 'Forward', don't think that you've been sent just another forwarded joke, but that you've been thought of today and your friend on the other end of your computer

wanted to send you a smile.

So here's to keeping in touch . . . Even if it means only forwarding on an email !