Been there. Done That. Got the T-shirt. Now is the time to leave the world a better place.
Category: Thoughts
Lucinda Maria James
Lucy, as she was called, arrived in my life in late summer 1996 in Longmont Colorado. I had a small apartment and was in the process of leaving Colorado and heading for Raleigh, North Carolina. The best thing I can say about Colorado was I was glad to see it in my rear view mirror as I left. It was a very depressing time in my life for various reasons. A few weeks before I was ready to leave this very small black cat appeared outside my apartment door. She looked to be in good shape and I figured she had wandered away from her home and someone would be looking for her. Once I fed her, I had to go and buy some cat food as I didn’t have any in the apartment, she claimed me. Hell, I didn’t even know if the apartment complex ALLOWED cats. She was a very small cat and pretty quite so I thought I could handle her until I found her owner.
I could not find her owner. No one in the complex would claim her and the results of my attempt to place flyers up around the neighborhood yielded no results. My thinking was I had around 10 days to get rid of this cat. I had the bright idea of taking her to the vet and give her to them to take care of. No such deal! They checked her out and informed me she had been very well taken care of but they were not a pet adoption agency.
I’m getting ready to leave with everything I own in a 4 x 6 U-Haul and I don’t have any plans to take her with me.
Lucy had other plans! After a few angry meows she settled in for the trip to Raleigh. I tried, and mostly succeeded, to find motels that would allow animals. One night I didn’t and left her in the room while I went out for dinner. When I came back she was between the window and the drapes in plain view of the sign that said no pets allowed.
She later became the member of our household that at one time included 5 cats. Lucy was the smallest of them but didn’t take crap from any of the boys. I was always impressed with the way she walked. Like “You want a piece of me? Well bring it on.” After 17 years with a cat they become like one of your children with their medical bills, different personalities, their attitudes and habits.
Lucy’s health deteriorated over the last few years and we had to have her put down yesterday. Today she sits over the fireplace in a Urn with her departed playmates.
Take care Lucy. We miss you already.
The Road Less Traveled
So many paths to tread It’s hard to know
which ways I should have chosen & which roads
would have been best for me & mine to roam.
So many schools & teachers I have seen.
So many chances given me & yet,
I chose & chose again to walk alone.
Defiant of the rules they would impose,
I walked, I tripped, I fell, but carried on
Perhaps if I’d succumbed to one of them,
I would now find myself in better stead.
More discipline & some authority
& maybe I would be a brighter star,
to shine for those who follow like I did.
I cannot tell if how I’ve lived was worse
or not, or more or less, than could have been,
but in my heart I know that I have tried
Tears
The Soul would have NO RAINBOW if the eyes had NO TEARS
Still applies in many areas of our life today. The lost of a father, mother, and younger sister as I have my not bring immediate tears to your eyes but they will eventually when you least expect it. Little unique movements that my dad possessed; my mother’s laugh and my sister’s battle with kidney disease. When the tears arrive a rainbow appears and my SOUL is that much more fulfilled.
Oh Danny Boy! 