Tragedies

Well, I received a call shortly after I got into work Wednesday morning from the man that owns the property on Parsells.  What a great guy.  Nice.  Really nice.  He told me the inspector was coming at noon that day, and he had to move the shelters off the porch or it would be considered 'clutter'.  These inspectors....   hmmm... what can I say.  They should all ride around with me on my route some morning as part of their training and then they would think twice about not allowing people to have these shelters on their property. Anyway, 'Bob' told me I could move the stuff back on the porch tomorrow if I wanted to, until a new tenant moved in, but he also pointed out a covered porch in the back, where he said I could set up shelter there also, if I wanted.  I am going to go meet him today or tomorrow - leave work early - he said he is there every day until around 4pm.  I just want to shake the man's hand.  He said he already knows me from the Simpsons - the Crazy Cat Lady.  Ha.  Very funny Mr. Bob.

I also wanted to mention something to all of you who have ever donated anything to me.  Whether it be your time, a shelter, a towel, a financial donation, cat food, fostering a cat for me, adopting a cat from me, paid a vet bill, pasta and sauce (Maria - :)), wine - Nancy (:)) or gift baskets (Jill and Sharyn :)).  The kindness you have shown for the cats is immeasurable to me.  You may not be going out there each morning, taking your life in your own hands in the darkness, getting up at 4 am. to be awake enough to go out there with a clear head at 5 am., to fight the rain, snow, blizzards, thunder and lightening or whatever the weather that is occurring at the moment.  To see each of these cats - some frightened, some sick, all hungry - you may not do what I do every morning, but your donations are just as if you are out there with me.  You don't turn your back on these poor homeless animals.  You are able to see them through my eyes, and feel compassion for them. And you DO something about it.  So please remember, every little thing you've done for me, you've helped these animals JUST AS MUCH as I have.  So thank you thank you thank you. You are the best.

I have a friend that has end stage prostate cancer, and he just went into a hospice called the Journey House on Tuesday .  He was told he had less than a month to live.  He never told his mother that he had cancer - a battle that he has been fighting for 10+ years.  He didn't want his mom to go through the pain of knowing this, or to see her son die before her, so she wasn't told.  His mom was elderly - 90 years old yesterday. She was the sweetest little Italian woman.   She was to be picked up that evening and was going to be told.  She was found dead in her home by her other son when he came to pick her up.  My friend's partner had to tell him.  Two very very sad stories there.  I guess my point is, there is a lot of heartache that we have to go through in life.  We do our very best to muddle through,  The human was blessed with two great tools; a heart with which to feel, and a mind with which to think. In order to process tragedies and make peace with them, a third tool is needed, one which we do not possess. God is so infinitely great, and He controls His world in measures which we can usually use our minds and hearts to process. Sometimes though, he uses tools beyond the senses He has given us.

In Judaism, death is not a tragedy, even when it occurs early in life or through unfortunate circumstances. Death is a natural process. Our deaths, like our lives, have meaning and are all part of God's plan.

Sorry to be such a downer today, but as I've explained before, this blog is a little like my daily diary and these are the things on my mind.

So, go out there, live your life, and have a great day.

"When you are sorrowful look again in your heart,

and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that

which has been your delight."

― Kahlil Gibran