Angel Cat

She first came to our house via my sister's heart, but by the time she left she had forever secured a home in ours. Known to many as "the big cat", she was gentle and sweet - oh, so very sweet. And yes a bit quirky too, just like her long tail that curled and looped into a question mark when she was happy.

Remy loved to meet at us the door when we came home, she loved to be brushed and petted and played with. She tolerated Owen's ministrations and manhandling wonderfully - in fact, I think she rather fancied him. She also loved to "steal" his stuffed animals and lay on them. Happily, Owen never minded sharing. Still, she slept beside me most nights, curled up in a comforting cushion of contentment. 

She was plush, and beautiful, and sometimes a bit bossy once she learned she did not, in fact, have to stay upstairs. She was loud and chatty and liked to be where the action was. We learned to keep plants and bows and ribbon far away from her - there was not much Remy liked better than chewing up those things which were not good for her. And she certainly never met a catnip toy or can of tuna she didn't like.

A week ago tonight, following a very fast turn in the kidney and pancreatic problems she'd been having since May, I had to say good-bye. I stroked her head and sobbed as she left us. I miss you Remy, my silly, stuffed-animal loving big girl. I miss you.

WILW - A Bag of Thankfulness

This is what my little Indian brought home from school Monday - love, love, love!

Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving! 

May the spirit of recognizing and being thankful for our blessings 

continue on each day of the year.

A Lion's Pride

“You can do what you want to us. You can take away things from us. You can try to split us apart. It’s not gonna happen.”

It still is:

My youth. My growth. My friends and family. My campus. My Ritenour, Willard, Schwab, Pattee. My Old Main. My Creamery and Lion Shrine. My 'Thon. My pride.

It still is:

My grilled stickies. My Corner Room. My Skeller. My Loop. My McLanahans. My town. My happy valley.

It still is:

My blue and white. My football team. My Blue Band. My traditions - old and new. My 409. My homecoming. My pain. My Mauti. My hope.

It still is
I still am
We still are.

Musings on a Moment

(This is one of those few and far between "Optional Reading Posts". No cute kid stories or pictures - sorry Mom - just thoughts that percolated about my brain for a bit and finally splashed down on paper)

I remember the day clearly. My last chemo treatment. It was, thankfully, many years ago, yet the same feelings still come when I think of it now - the relief at completing another step to recovery, the strength I felt in getting through it, the happiness of the nurses hugging me goodbye.

And I remember this: during my treatment a woman came to sit next to me in our tan leather Lazy-Boys. I waited for that final drop to fall - she prepared for her first. We started talking, and I soon saw her anxiety and fear about chemotherapy, that necessary poison. I listened, and I shared, telling her about my experience. And when I stood to leave, she smiled and clasped my hand, saying I was an angel sent to help her.

What a blessing that was to me - realizing that I had smoothed the journey (if just a bit, for just a short time) for another soul. Paying forward the compassion others had shown me when I was first diagnosed; when I first stepped into the treatment room.

Several years later I happened upon a blog from a beautiful young woman who was a cancer survivor and hoped to adopt. She wrote with great faith and happiness, and we started a correspondence. One month, a few strangers cruelly questioned her decision to parent - calling her selfish for wanting to be a mother when it was possible her cancer would return.

Devastated, she wrote me, asking if I agreed. I responded with my heart, telling her about some of the emotions I too had faced. When she responded, it was with renewed hope and joy and certainty to pursue her dreams for a family.

What a blessing it was to me - realizing that I had smoothed the journey (if just for a bit, for just a short time) for another soul. Paying forward the reassurance and encouragement others had offered me as I faced naysayers and inner demons on the long road to life after cancer.

Last week I got my hair cut at a new salon. A good friend had been going there for ages, and suggested I try her stylist. On a whim I made an appointment and soon was sitting in her swivel chair. As we chatted, I asked her if she had children. Her smile slipped briefly, and I knew in that moment what was coming.

"Not yet. We've been trying for a few years, but ...".

As she snipped away, I shared bits of our story. I listened as she opened up about her struggle. Hair finished, I hugged her and told her I knew she would find the path to her child. She hugged me back, and smiled with tears in her eyes.

What a blessing it was to me - realizing that I had smoothed the journey (if just for a bit, for just a short time) for another sole. Paying forward the hope and love others had offered me as I found my child.

I cherish each of those moments. They just felt darn good. Connected to another person in a way that was both humbling and uplifting. Call it karma, good will, whatever. I am so aware of God in those moments - and thankful that He put me in that place, at that time, and prodded my heart to respond. I hope my life is filled with many more such moments - the ability to pay it forward; the chance to comfort and encourage. To help one person make it though one day. To me, that is life's meaning.

Hoping today that you have a chance to have a "moment".

My One - And Only - Political Post

I love the voting process. I like waving to the folks standing outside the polling place with their campaign signs (I'm an equal opportunity waver too, I just respect that they have convictions). I like standing in line among my fellow Marylanders, carefully chatting with them (don't want to get in a tussle), and I like pulling the curtain and casting my ballot. It's a great privilege and responsibility.

We live in a country where each of our citizens of voting age can go freely to the polls and vote in anonymity without fear of intimidation or violence. That is big.

We live in a country where our votes are counted correctly (aside from certain ballots in Florida) and our voices heard, even if the candidate of our liking does not win. That is big.

We live in a country where no candidate wins with 99% of the vote. That is very big. If you don't think so, check out how elections go in the Middle East or Africa or Central Asia.

Be thankful for your right to vote. If you don't like either candidate write in Santa Clause, or Nelson Mandela (the most widely respected person in the world in a recent poll), or even your own name. It's worth it - it's big.

And as we learn tonight whether Obama will continue in the Oval Office or Romney will step in, please remember this big truth too ... The President of the United States, whomever that is, isn't going to change America.

WE ARE.

It is, as it has always been, up to us to spread hope, and move this country and our people forward.

It's my husband and his partners who built a small company (and yes, they did build it) and try to do the right thing for their employees everyday, providing them with excellent health care and retirement plans despite continuously skyrocketing costs to do so.

It's a childhood friend and my brother-in-law, who both work faithfully, tirelessly to show the youth of this country the way to succeed, to believe in themselves, to rise above. By the way, these two fine people are on opposite ends of the political spectrum. Doesn't matter - they do it for the good of the kids.

It's my friend across the street, who consistently volunteers her time, voice, effort and yes, money, to the people and places and organizations who are trying to make a difference in our community.

It's the teachers at Owen's school who work long hours for very little salary because they believe in combining faith and life and education.

It's a high school friend (and my prom date) who founded a grassroots effort to provide clean drinking water to villages around the globe. A simple well has the power to change and save lives.

It's the senior citizen who goes to the local animal shelter on weekends to help care for the cats and dogs waiting for a family.

It's a good friends teenage daughter, who started a campaign to provide baskets of books to children moving into Habitat for Humanity homes.

It's my dad, who volunteers his time to help other Bell retirees continue to receive the benefits they were promised by a company they worked for their entire careers - benefits that he himself is assured of.

It's the people who decided to organize a local clothing and food drive for our fellow citizens so impacted last weekend by Hurricane Sandy. And it's all those who donated.

It's moms, and especially those who dig deep every day to make the world a better place for their special needs children - and in doing so help all children.

And of course it's our military men and women, our firemen, police and first responders (and all of their families) who stand ready to protect us, to defend us, to save us in times of hardship and tragedy.

IT'S ALL OF US.

I saw this posted on facebook ... When you're done at your local poll station, spend some time researching the grassroots organizations in your own community that are truly changing the world. Not millions of people at a time but one person, one family, one child, one animal at a time. Because those folks, the ones with boots on the ground, dirty hands from packing boxes of supplies, collecting and distributing furniture and bedding, gathering clothing and feeding the hungry....they spread hope. Tangible Hope. And hope is the only thing that truly drives America or any country forward. Re-elected President, newly elected President...their impact is so much smaller than the impact any one of us can have on moving America forward. Right now. Hope doesn't subscribe to a political party, it subscribes only to the human spirit and its capacity to create and deliver change.