<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><span style="caret-color: rgb(72, 72, 72); color: rgb(72, 72, 72); font-family: sans-serif, serif; font-size: 26px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Gratitude</span><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div>by Edith Nesbit</div><div><br></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(72, 72, 72); background-color: white;">I found a starving cat in the street:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(72, 72, 72);"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: white;">It cried for food and a place by the fire.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: white;">I carried it home, and I strove to meet<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: white;">The claims of its desire.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: white;">And since its desire was a little fish,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: white;">A little hay and a little milk,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: white;">I gave it cream in a silver dish<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: white;">And a basket lined with silk.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: white;">And when we came to the grateful pause<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: white;">When it should have fawned on the hand that fed,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: white;">It turned to a devil all teeth and claws,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: white;">Scratched me and bit me and fled.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: white;">To pay for the fish and the milk and the hay<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: white;">With a purr had been an easy task:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: white;">But its hate and my blood were required to pay<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: white;">For the gifts that it did not ask.</span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><br></div>————————————————-<br><br><div dir="ltr"><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">http://www.MoscowCares.net</span></div><div><br></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><br></div><div>“A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met.”</div><div>- Roy E. Stolworthy</div><div></div></div></div></div></body></html>