Katrina We Will Never Forget You

                                         
The 4th anniversary of Katrina is coming up and the memory is still all too fresh....the sights, the sounds, the smells, the feeling of deep loss of the familiar .... It is a constant reminder not to take anything or anyone for granted. It can be gone in the blink of a eye. The image is a self portrait taken in my driveway in Bay St. Louis a few weeks after Katrina. In all the chaos and destruction I still found beauty in the patterns of the dried mud.

Self Portrait

I'd rather Smile

                                                                                                            
I've had a wonderful day ... every day spent with my sweetie is the best day of my life. We accomplished a lot around the house today, then went and bought new appliances (range & dishwasher ... YEAH!!!) followed by a delicious steak supper and good conversation. Couldn't get much better - but who knows - it might?


I am already looking forward to tomorrow ... I invited 13 people to join us for dinner tomorrow evening in celebration of Tony's 57th birthday, which will be Monday. I've had to endure being the older woman (again) for 11 days, which is the number of days between our birthdays.


I admit I am childish when it comes to gift giving occations. I can hardly stand to wait until I open my gifts and am not above begging to open them early and absolutely cannot stand to wait to give him his gifts. I gave him an early one today and got him good. He was convinced that I had a picture framed for him that I took out on the bay. (see latest photo at left). It was not that photograph that I gave him (ha!) but a collage of six photos that I had taken during each phase that Tony was building Teddy R. I added the title ("The Evolution of Teddy R.") which I thought was rather clever if I must say so. He was surprised and pleased I think. Since I am trying my best to save the card I got for him until his actual birthday, I shared my birthday card with him ... the one he gave me... that I have played (well who's counting the number of times) over the past week. It is the funniest card I have ever seen or heard. I may not file this one away but just keep it close at hand to play whenever I need a smile.


This morning was one of those times. I picked up the news paper from yesterday and saw the obituary for one of my first cousins. She was only one year older than I am. As children we spent a lot of time together. After the intial shock it became all too real. Our mortality and the fact that none of us can escape when our time is at hand. How can we know when that will be. Do we want to know. Not me. Maybe we will have some sign, some warning, some time to adjust to the idea that our days are numbered; like she did. I guess that's the only good thing about terminal cancer and also the worst ... that you know there is an end in sight - you just don't know exactly when or how it will come.


Although we had not been close for many years and did not see each other often, I felt a real loss and very sad that I'll never be able to see or talk to her again. And then I realized that instead of feeling depressed I should be celebrating her life and the times we shared. My most treasured memories are of the times she and her two younger sisters and I would stand out by the railroad track in front of their house and catch candy that the guy in the caboose would throw out to us. It seemed that that train was ten miles long and it took foreeever for the caboose to come into sight. As soon as it came around the bend the whistle began to blow and we would line up at the imaginary line (the one we knew we could not cross unless we wanted to be crushed by the train), eagerly anticipating that first handful of hard candy we knew was coming our way. We never thought that it was unusual and I guess in our childlike minds we might have even assumed that he threw candy to all the boys and girls along the way. I now doubt that was the case. I think he saw four ragamuffin little girls jumping up and down, waving and smiling just for him everyday at 2:15 PM and that made his day and he knew without a doubt that he made ours! So instead of tears, I'd rather smile and remember those times and be thankful I could share them with her.  I think she'd like that better too.

Oldie but Goodie

                                              
Wow...another year gone. I just hit the big 57. Tony surprized me with a party and it was wonderful to celebrate my birthday with friends and family. Getting older doesn't really bother me but in my head I still see myself as much younger. Of course when I look in the mirror there's no way to deny that the years (& pounds) are piling up. I do however think it would be quite lovely when we reach this age in life that we could look and feel THE best we ever have. I can fool myself into thinking that I look pretty much the same as I always have - UNTIL - I pull out the photo albums. I can see that all of the things I found to criticize myself about when I was 20, or 30 or 40 are the very things I'd kill for now.  Funny how that works isn't it. I guess to be the best we can be every day is all we can ask of ourselves. I'm already looking forward to my 58th BD celebration!

Friends - Old and New

I am still learning to communicate on Facebook and admittedly I still have a fer piece to go as the old saying goes. It is so nice to find and reconnect with old friends and find new ones along the way. The one thing I have learned is that by communicating through Facebook, that's the real key....we ARE communicating! It is so easy to see an old friend on a rare occation while you are battling the hordes of Hellmart or catching thier eye as we move through the thongs leaving the movie theater and say in passing " let's get together for lunch soon - I'll call you". Of course it seldom comes to fruition and the same hollow promises are made the next time you run into one another. We all have every intention and even believe for that moment in time that we really will call them and get together. Some how our lives have become so hectic that we don't think we can afford the luxury of slowing down and allowing ourselves to enjoy the very thing that would enrich our lives. The fellowship with friends....those that we share a rich history with and can recall memories that we experienced together and relive and enjoy them all over again and the pleasure of getting to know new firends and build new memories. For some reason we believe that we will always have time later to do those things. For me I have come to the realization that now is later for me. I have been retired for three years and I honestly do not know where the time has gone. I stay busy and am never bored but I have not stayed connected to old friends or taken the time and effort to grow new friendships the way I wish I had. I hope that I have many, many more years to do so but I don't want to keep putting it on the back burner. My daughter turns 32 tomorrow and I am staring down the barrel of the big 57 on the 23rd of July and I don't intend to become an old woman with regrets. So my promise to myself is to make every effort to spend time with those I care about, who are important to me, who enrich my life and leave me feeling good for the time we've spent. I feel like I am already moving forward....I have lunch plans with two old friends next week thanks to Facebook! Let's keep communicating.

Old Friends - New Adventures

                                  Tony and I asked John and Sherry Martin to come for a visit at Camp Getaway but wondered if circumstances would ever allow it since they live in Indiannapolis now. As luck would have it, business brought them to New Orleans and they spent several days with us. We've stayed in touch but had not seen them in several years so we had some catching up to do. Since we've been friends for over twenty years it was like old times but with some new adventures. Fishing mainly. John Forrest shares Tony 's love for fishing so they spent A LOT of time doing just that. Sherry and I went fishing with them out to the reef early one morning and were thrilled to be on hand to experience THE BIG ONE. Noooo - not THAT BIG ONE, get your mind out of the gutter! I'm talking about the twenty five pound black drum that John Forrest landed. Over the course of their visit we ate a lot of great seafood (they can't get it back home) and enjoyed great conversation, cool beer and just kickin' back, which is really underrated. John Forrest's fishing attire inspired Tony to explore the world of sun protective fishing clothing so that was one of his Father's day gifts. Sure hope it won't be as long til John and Sherry make their way back down south.

                                                                                                                       John and Sherry

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT......

                                                     

A few days ago I decided to join the world of Facebook. I'd heard a little bit about it from a teenage daughter of our friends so naturally I assumed it was a network for the raging hormone throngs. A couple of friends told me that they had reconnected with some of our mutual old (no insult intended by old) friends via Facebook so I decided to check it out. I'm not altogether convinced that there isn't a hormone raging throng of oldies on Facebook too. Whatever floats their boat I guess. What a pleasant surprise though to find multitudes of us oldies (but goodies) participating in this new age technology. I've been having a ball finding lost friends and catching up with those I don't see often. Today, Tara's pre-school teacher that we have kept in touch with with all these years (yep 30+ 0f them) confirmed me as a friend on Facebook! It's really fun to see the pictures people post. I get to see children and grandchildren and all sorts of things that people are up to. Now I've got to find news worthy topics and interesting conversation for my posts....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04RZrf3-Mgo&feature=related

Angels Among Us

                                                       
One of my friends (I will not say her name out of respect for her privacy- let's call her Jill for now) has had a week of losses. She is not married and her cats are her children. Several years ago she rescued an adult Maine Coon she named Charlie Brown. It took months for her to get him to stay out from under the bed. Then he began sleeping on the bed with her, then he began sleeping on her and she became his person. Charlie Brown was the upstairs cat and had little or no interactions with the other cats. I remember how excited Jill was when Charlie Brown began coming to the top of the stairs to greet her. There were lots of Charlie Brown stories and I always looked forward to hearing the latest adventure. From the beginning he had urinary problems and had the most attentive and best care and treatment any cat could wish for. This last episode was just too much for him though. I got a call early last Friday morning from Jill asking if I could come to the Emergency Vet and sit with her because Charlie Brown had become unresponsive in the wee hours. Shortly after I got there the Vet broke the news that he was not going to make it. I helped her take Charlie Brown home and we called Derrick, the guy who does both our yards to ask if he could come bury him. It was heart wrenching to see the pain and loss on her face as we waited. She picked out a burial spot in a shaded area of her garden and when the three guys showed up the five of us proceeded in a single line funeral procession down the stepping stones to the site. After the grave was dug and Charlie Brown was placed, one of the guys asked if she wanted to say anything before the grave was covered. I didn't think she would be able to say anything but she said yes she would like to say the Lord's prayer. We all bowed our heads and Jill began to recite the prayer - then right at the end she began reciting some other prayer. When she finished, she said she didn't know exactly what she got off on and Derrick said "You must not have been praying much lately" and that made us all laugh (which was badly needed). They placed a wrought iron cross to mark the grave and we left Charlie Brown to rest in peace.



Yesterday Jill called to say that one of her "outside kitties" Sophie was missing. I told her to not give up yet because Mary George (my cat) was missing for two weeks one time and then just suddenly showed back up early one morning and walked right in and announced herself. I was hoping that Sophie would return yesterday. Then this morning I got an email from Jill saying that she and Derrick buried Sophie this morning. She found her next door on the neighbor's carport. Sophie, was a stray that showed up several years ago and Jill tried and tried to get her to come inside but Sophie never would and would never let Jill pet her. She was provided ample food and shelter and veterinary care and love from a distance (since that's all she'd allow) - but I know she knew she was loved all the same.



There are angels among us and in this case I think it went both ways. Charlie Brown and Sophie were sent to fill a certain spot in a heart and life that was big enough to take them in and love them and my friend Jill was there when they needed her most.

There is a lesson to be learned here...I believe that there are angels among us. They come in different shapes, sizes, colors, gender and species. There may be one right under our nose and if we don't take the time to look we may miss seeing them and therefore miss a real blessing.