Some Good Reminders, and a Story

(These are all from an e-mail message that's making the rounds, but I like the quotes, and the story is just really sweet and touching... such an amazing, real forever love...)

The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything;
they just make the best of everything they have.

Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.

True love is neither physical, nor romantic. True love is an acceptance of
all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.

It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80's arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am. I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him. I saw him looking at his watch and decided that since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound. On examination, I could see it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.

While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife. I inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer's Disease. As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now. I was surprised, and asked him, "And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?"

He smiled as he patted my hand and said, "She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is."

Bug!

Found this HUGE brown moth on the outside doorframe the other day. I thought it was pretty.

Here's a science article I found about this kind. And yes, I know I'm a geek. :-D

Baby Birds Everywhere!

But not parakeet babies this time.
Remember those neighborhood chickens that roam the yards? We had a momma hen visiting our yard the other day, with her brood of cute little fuzzy babies. I recorded them for a few minutes, so if you want to see them, here it is:



Aren't they adorable? :-)

Yes, I Am A Great Big Kid

At my work, there is a particular student who likes to discuss computer games with me when he visits my office. I've told him all about GuildWars, and he has been telling me about Runescape & some others. He asked me if I would sign up to play Runescape, and I told him that because my playing time is so limited, I really only play GuildWars when I can play online. He asked me if it was due to my work paperwork, and I told him that it was not that, but the things I need to do at home. I guess he hadn't noticed all the kid-pictures on my wall, or hadn't really registered them, because he asked me, sounding fairly surprised "You're a mom?". Just the way he said it made me aware that he didn't realize how old I am. I said "P, I'm almost 40". He said "Wow, but you still act like a 13-year old." :-D Now, coming from some people, this could have been an insult, but he meant it as a compliment. Then he told me his mom is that way, too. Still acts like a kid, and is fun. So that kinda made my day. Thanks, P!

I'm Late to Work Because...

The other morning I got to work a little late, because as the girls and I were leaving the house to go to school, we saw an enormous hawk in our neighbor's tree - we have the really tall, hideous pine trees here. This bird was HUGE - like Great Horned Owl-size. We are used to seeing hawks & osprey here, and swallow-tail kites, but we've never seen a hawk that big. So we were fascinated, and watched the bird as we went to our car & got in, and started to back out of the driveway.

As she was watching the bird, my daughter happened to catch sight of the small tree that is just outside our fence. I heard her say "That bird is so - Hey! A cat!" Huh?
In the little tree at the fence, there was a small, fluffy black cat, looking like she wanted to get down but didn't know how to extricate herself - the tree is covered in dead vines. Plus the dogs were right at the fence, which is probably why she was in the tree in the first place. She had no tag, but two collars on, so we knew she belonged to somebody.

We pulled back into the driveway, and the girls talked gently to the cat as I went to get the ladder. I set it by the tree, and my daughter held it steady for me while I climbed up and helped the cat get unstuck from the tree. She was a sweet kitty, and very happy to get out of the tree - as soon as I had her out of the tree and held against my shoulder, she was purring up a storm.
I handed her to the girls, who held and petted her while I put the ladder away, and then they set her down in a patch of sun by the sidewalk (away from the road), figuring that she must live nearby. We're pretty sure she lives in the trailer park at the end of our road. She made a beeline for that end of the street, and stopped once to look back & meow at us, as if to say thanks. :-)

We saw here standing in the yard of the trailer park that afternoon, and later in the week, too, so she must live there. Anyway, we felt good, having done our good deed, and here's the odd thing:
That big old hawk, that was the reason we saw the kitty in the first place - we never would have if we hadn't been watching the bird - as soon as we got the cat out of the tree, the hawk flew away. Now, I realize it could have been watching the cat, hoping to have it for breakfast, but it seems to me it could have grabbed the cat at any time that morning, since she had likely been in the tree a while. We choose to believe that the hawk was there to show us the cat. :-D

(And I wasn't in trouble for being late to work - they're really cool about that, and they know that I stay late a lot).