I am always interested in famous phrases and quotes and am glad when I can find true stories to support them. On Monday I heard three interesting stories as I was watching the morning programs on Good Morning America.

On a portion of the program called “Somebody’s Watching You,” Tory Johnson, workplace correspondent, reported on employees in the workplace who use their company’s computers for personal use. Some shop, send emails to dates or to cheat on spouses, or to view pornography. Four selected employees were monitored by Johnson and wasted a combined total of 40 hours on personal computer use for one week—time equivalent of one average week of work. Johnson stated that the Federal Electronics Communication Act says that if the boss is watching, this is very legal because these computers are the employer’s property and they have the right to monitor everything. They also have the right to fire you if your work time is misused.

Quote applied is—“Be careful what you do because it can come back to haunt you.”

The second story is about the medical miracle of Joyce Urch, the mother of five children, 12 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, who had been blind for 26 years. Recently she suffered a heart attack and kidney failure. After an operation that saved her life, she woke up and was able to see. Her biggest fascinations were traffic lights, escalators in the department store where her husband did her shopping and new cars. Doctors can’t explain this dramatic side effect to her illness.

Quotes applied are—“Behind every cloud there is a silver lining,”

“God is a miracle worker,” or “When God closes a door, He opens a window.”

The third story took place on the day of terrorism, Sept. 11, 2001. Three passengers were scheduled to be on Flight 93, the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. That spot is now the gravesite of the 37 passengers and seven crewmembers who took the flight.

Flight surgeon Heather Ross Ogle was planning to fly to San Francisco that day, but her father had a problem waking her up. After the third try, he gave up. Ogle said that she was so tired, worn and comfortable in that bed she just didn’t feel like getting out of it.

Frank Robebertazzi was scheduled to fly to San Francisco to be at a meeting at his company’s headquarters. However, he said that his five-year-old daughter was just starting kindergarten and he was having so much fun with her, he made a decision to take another flight.

Daniel Belardinelli was in his studio working on a new painting. He had planned to be on that flight to San Francisco with his uncle, but said something came up that he just couldn’t juggle. His uncle perished in the crash.

Phrases applied are—“You are not going anywhere if it isn’t your time to go” and “We all have guardian angels watching over us.”

Sad news

I was saddened to hear about the death of Coretta Scott King Monday.

She had a famous quote for women that she used constantly — “Women, if the soul of a nation is to be saved, I believe that you must become it’s soul.”

My quote for her is, “May the work I’ve done speak for me.”

Age is just a number

I am often told that I am aging gracefully. I have also heard that if a person looks years younger he is not afraid to tell his age; and if Constance Jones did it, I can too. I celebrated my 62nd birthday on Jan. 27. There, I’ve said it. At this age I can still do seven line dances, sometimes read without glasses, and remember most of my family and close friends’ birth dates. That’s not hard to do when three of those friends, Audrey Knight, Gracie Eure and Gloria Lee share the same birth date as I do. This is living proof of my last quote, “Age isn’t anything but a number.”