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ray, picking yourself up after a fall 

I have always been impressed with people who, after hard times, pull themselves up and continue on with life.  for me, this attribute does not define a "great person" - it is what a great person is, it is part of their dna.  ray is that kind of person.  you see, ray was a rich man - a very rich man, with a deep passion for art.  ray was a big time collector - his collection was vast, and growing.  ray had it all - all but a son to share his passion.  well, that would soon change.  ray met, and fell in love with a wonderful women.  as time went on, they had a wonderful son.  but rays joy soon turned to pain, when his wife was killed in an automobile accident.  ray spent a great deal of time mourning, but his son soon took up most of his time and he had no time to grieve.

ray and his son grew close, very close.  ray's son shared with him his passion for art.  they would travel the world collecting major works of art form all over.  money was no object, and time was on their side.  as rays son grew he went off to college, and studied art - his father was proud, very proud the day he received his degree.  ray and his son soon found themselves planning to build a large museum for all the art they had collected.  then, as they planned, rays son received a notice in the mail - he was drafted.  ray wanted to use his power and money to get him out of it, but his son would not have it.  he told his father all would be right, and off he went to europe.

while in europe rays son was impressed with all the art; he was painting of the master.  he wrote his father and told him, after the war they needed to return and buy art.  his father wrote back, saying he wanted to do that very much.  one day, while ray was sitting reading the morning paper, a knock came upon the door.  when ray answered the door, he was two army offers.  they gave ray a letter.  in the letter were the words, "we regret to inform you at the passing of your son."  ray took the letter, and hung his head in deep pain.  the offices helped ray back to his paper.  they stayed with him for a while and told him how his son died.

his son was a medic.  he had taken the position that all life was worth saving, all life.  he did whatever he could to insure the safety of those in his platoon.  one rainy day, as the battle around grew and grew, he noticed that one of his platoon, a new recruit, was trapped and bleeding.  he took his sack and ran to his aid.  when he got their the enemy tossed a hand grenade.  when he saw the grenade, he through himself upon it.  when it went off, it killed him, but saved the life of the new recruit.

the pain of loosing his son was not put to rest with finding out how his son died.  but time would heal the wound.  over time ray picked up the desire to collect art.  one day, while getting ready for his first trip to europe, a knock came upon his front door.  when he opened the door he noticed a young man standing there with a large covered painting.  the man told ray that he was the recruit his son saved during the war.  he told ray that his son would spend hours talking about his father and all the fun he had collecting art.  they young man told ray that while he was no great artist, he did paint a picture of his son and he wanted ray to have it as a way of saying thank you.  when the young man opened the picture ray knew the young man was honest, the picture was bad, very bad.  ray invited the young man to stay for dinner.  after dinner, ray hung the picture on the wall over the fireplace, so all could see.

over time, ray had become the largest collector of art known.  he had spent millions on all different forms of art.  soon the art world know of him, and his wonderful collect.  but time passes, and we all get old, and so did ray.  soon, ray died, leaving behind one of the greatest collections ever.  in his will he gave strict instruction as to the disposal of his vast fortune.  one year after his death, there was to be an auction of all his collection.

the year was spent cataloging the collection into three large volumes.  lawyers spent months getting everything in the ready.  ray's instructions were to be followed to the letter - without exception.  the volumes were released to the public six months before the auction and those in the world of art collecting were waiting with great expectations for the day of the auction.

when the day came, the auction hall was filled with collectors all wanting to get their hands on this vast and expensive collection.  the total worth of the collection has been estimated to be over five billion dollars.  when the auction started, the place was packed.  the first painting to be auctioned off was that of the son pained many years ago by the young man from the war.  when the painting was introduced everyone laughed.  no one wanted to bid for the painting.  shouts of "garbage," "not worth a penny," and many others.  then, from the back of the auction, a man stood and asked if he could bid on the picture, everyone laughed.  the man said that he was the artist of the painting, and that it held great value for him.  if no one else wanted it, he would like to bid - but all he had was fifty dollars.  with that the auctioneer asked if there was another bid, no one spoke or moved - "going once, going twice, sold to the man in the back for fifty dollars."  with that everyone waited for the auction to start.  just before the auctioneer was to start, a lawyer stood before the crowd and said, "the auction is over.  there is nothing left to auction."  several of the richer men in the crowd were very upset and demanded to know why the auction was closed.  with that the lawyer read from ray's will.

"when I die all I have shall be auctioned.  but the auction will be based on this - who ever buys the picture of my son, will become the rightful owner of all I have.  because who ever loves my son that much deserves all I have."