HEAVENLY MANNA

The census taker knocked on the lady's door.  She answered all his questions except one.  She refused to tell him her age.      "But everyone tells their age to the census taker," he said.      "Did Miss Maisy Hill, and Miss Daisy Hill tell you their ages?" she asked.      "Certainly," he replied.      "Well, I'm the same age as they are," she snapped.      The census taker simply wrote on the form, "As old as the Hills."      You may have heard that our nation's oldest person, a 113-year-old woman, died recently just weeks before her 114th birthday.  The world's oldest person in the world, according to the Gerontology Research Group, is a Japanese man, who will turn 116 next week. The oldest person ever on record was a Frenchwoman who was 122 when she died in 1997.  All of these could easily be described with the phrase, "As old as the hills."      But they are all babies when compared with

The following story came to me by way of "Chicken Soul For the Soul".  Its source is listed as "Gentle Spaces News".      A wise old gentleman retired and purchased a modest home near a junior high school. He spent the first few weeks of his retirement in peace and contentment . . . then a new school year began. The very next afternoon three young boys, full of youthful, after-school enthusiasm, came down his street, beating merrily on every trash can they encountered. The crashing percussion continued day after day, until finally the wise old man decided it was time to take some action.      The next afternoon, he walked out to meet the young percussionists as they banged their way down the street. Stopping them, he said, "You kids are a lot of fun. I like to see you express your exuberance like that. Used to do the same thing when I was your age. Will you do me a favor? I'll give you each a dollar if you'll promise to come around every