LETTING GO

During the Persian Gulf War, I was assigned to go to Saudi Arabia.  As I
was saying good-bye to my family, my three-year-old son, Christopher,
was holding on to my leg and pleading with me not to leave.  "No, Daddy,
please don't go!" he kept repeating.

We were beginning to make a scene when my wife, desperate to calm him,
said, "Let Daddy go and I'll take you to get a pizza."

Immediately, Christopher loosened his death grip, stepped back and in a
calm voice said, "'Bye, Daddy."

Craig S. Kunishige in Reader's Digest

Attila the Hun:

One of the most notorious villains in history, Attila's army had conquered
all of Asia by 450 AD--from Mongolia to the edge of the Russian Empire--by
destroying villages and pillaging the countryside.

How he died: He got a nosebleed on his wedding night

In 453 AD, Attila married a young girl named Ildico. Despite his 
reputation for ferocity on the battlefield, he tended to eat and drink 
lightly during large banquets. On his wedding night, however, he really 
cut loose, gorging himself on food and drink. Sometime during the night he 
suffered a nosebleed, but was too drunk to notice. He drowned in his own 
blood and was found dead the next morning.

The Chinese-born cellist Yo-Yo Ma 
changed his name from Yo Ma-Ma after he 
found that many Americans took offense 
when he introduced himself.