Farewell To Willow A Faithful Friend

Our wonderful pal and buddy Willow went to the Bridge today at 9:30 a.m. and is now playing at the Bridge with her friend Melody . Melody was our cat of 16 years, she has been gone a year now and still greatly missed. In their younger years the two did have their fun playing and chasing each other. Willow would of been 11 years old this coming February 28th., 2009.

We don't know who her owners were because we got her at the shelter when she was three months old. They did not have a clue because they rescued her from the side of the road. I can remember when we first saw her at the shelter, she was peeking over a pen they had made for small puppies in the middle of the room. She had incredible brown eyes that could look at you and get what she wanted.

We were not looking for a dog at this time, I am more of a cat person, but I grew attached to Willow over the years, she was a wonderful dog, half beagle and some kind of terrier. When we had her groomed she looked like the beagle, she never did like to go to the groomers and would spend most of the time barking. My granddaughter was the reason we got Willow, it was after a trip to the shelter with her class and the begging started , her teacher would constantly tell us we needed a dog. So guess what happened, Willow.

When we first got Willow she was sick and we had to take her to the vet, she had some kind of virus, it did not last long. When she would play with you she bit too hard and when corrected she would back off and bark and run at us. Over the years her favorite toy was her stuffed bear, the one she ended up with was the only bear she never tried to chew the stuffing out of. These are the things she like, pig ears from Meijers, bird seed in the yard, cheese, actually any human treat she could beg from us, she was never fond of her dog food, best of all she liked to be scratched.

Willow was a people dog, that is she prided herself on being our official greeter at the door, wagging and barking greetings. When we would take her for a walk she would stop in the drive way of every neighbor that came out and petted and spoke to her, if they did not come out that time she would go her merry way. It was sad to see her slowing down and when diagnosed with congestive heart failure the vet said no more walks, just roaming the yard, she did like that also.

I have to mention that in 1998 Willow saved the family from a house fire. When we first got her we put her in my granddaughters room in a cage until she could get use to running the house and she was not house broken yet. I heard her barking very early in the morning, which was unusual because she did not get us up until around six am. I went upstairs and opened Sarah's door and the room was filled with smoke, I immediately woke everyone and got them up and we all went outside with all the animals, I had already called the fire department. What had caused the fire was a faulty wire in the wall socket, it caught on fire just as the fire department came, not much damage was done to the wall. We called WMUS news and they came and took the story and videoed it and it appeared on the news, we were so proud of her. I feel bad that we did not contact the city and have her receive an accommodation for bravery award. I forgot to mention she loved hot dogs.

Goodbye old friend we will greatly miss you, see you at Rainbow Bridge, we love you.

Mom & Her Five Kittens

The little fur balls are gone from my sisters home forever. They have become adorable, cute, and have developed individual personalities all their own. They are now eight weeks old, eat on their own, and are litter trained. They love to play with each other, jump on your leg and cry when hungry. If you'd like to see pictures of the kittens my son has some of them on his Flickr page here.

The way this happened is my sister (Stella) went to PetCo in Muskegon, Michigan, and it just so happened that it was adoption day. She talked to a lady named Kim who runs a private shelter called Forever Pets. Kim took the mom and the kittens and my sister also donated to her shelter, because it is a good cause and they do a wonderful job.

This is a non profit no-kill private shelter and their pets are in foster homes until adopted. This way they can tell about the animals personality and traits and you can see the pet in friendly surroundings. If any of you bloggers know where Hesperia, Michigan is you can visit them at 4378 E. Arthur Road.

I hope that mom and the kittens get a good home. The mom cat was wild when Stella took her in. She belonged to a man that has too many kittens and cats and she just basically wandered the neighborhood. This creates a problem for the neighbors because all his cats live outdoors. I will miss the little kittens and mom. I was unable to take any of them because of money issues.

Helping Out

I am back from helping my sister Stella., She had a back procedure to fix a vertebra that was cracking . This required ballooning it a little apart and putting bone cement in to fill in the crack. I am sure there is a lot of technical language to all this, but I do not know what it is, all I know it was a success and she is doing better, the pain she was experiencing is gone, she still has some backache but the doctor said it is because she was inactive for a time.

My sister now lives alone, about two years ago her husband had bypass surgery and a week later he had a heart attack, his name was John. Like most of us John did not take good care of himself, especially after he had his first attack in 1985, he still drank too much and his diet was not a healthy one, but thank goodness he had given up smoking. John was a good man but did not listen to his doctor or wife. He was out of the hospital a week, when rushed back, he had several attacks that put him on life support. The doctor told Stella that he was brain dead and probably paralyzed on one side, much decision was made and the children called from all over the country to come and make the decision to take life support away, John died the summer of 2006.

One benefit I had staying over to Stellas for two weeks was her cat had given birth two weeks ago to five kittens. Two were gray and white, two were black with some stripes and the runt was black and white, so I had two weeks to watch them grow.

By the time I went home they were trying to walk, not very steady though, it was fun to watch them waddle. The runt has a black goatee and Stella calls him Mr. Tee. The gray and white kitty has a dot above his right eye, the two black ones eyes were blue but at five weeks they are changing.

At five weeks they are like miniature cats and so full of energy, they run and jump on you and Stella has bought them many play toys and balls to run and catch. It did not take long for all the kittens to become litter trained, at first they tried to eat the litter but not now. Next week they will be taking their first trip to the vet, Stella will be glad to know what sex they are, she has a pretty good guess but wants to be sure. In three weeks she is going to try placing the kittens, that will be a sad time for her, I know she is attached to them all.

The mom cat belongs five houses down from Stella, but always hung around her house to be fed, but would not come to anyone. Jenna, Stellas granddaughter was visiting for two weeks with her mom and brother, she liked the cat and finally got her to come, that is when they discovered she was going to have kittens. The game began to try and get her to come in the house, but success was had, Stella kept her in even though mom was having none of it and tried to get out every chance she could, and did a lot of crying. This cat is like silk and no matter how much she eats is still thin, the reason my sister kept her is the man down the road has too many cats and there is kittens all over his yard. Her name is Meme and she loves to lay in the windows which there is a lot of, and the window sills are also large, I forgot to mention that Meme is black and white with a half black mustash.

I did enjoy my stay with my sister and she told me she was glad to have me help out. I was surprised that Stella was driving in a week and doing a lot for herself, but that is sis, does not really like to ask for help. I went over today and checked on her and the progress of the kittens and found everything is going well, and the kittens has went from roaming the whole house to be limited to the kitchen and laundry room, lots of room. I am glad they are litter trained, it is easier to manage them and they have started eating some foods and drinking milk.

The Elderly

What would be your definition of the old folks? Getting old seems like it takes a long time, until you get there, and you ask yourself "where did the time go"? When we were young and complained to mom I wish I was older, she would say "why are you in such a hurry, you are young such a short time, so don't rush it just have patience. She was right it seems like yesterday I was young and care free, but the years flew by, I know the older folks will agree with me.

I wish I would of kept a record book of my life, then I would know everything I did. The reason for this is when some one mentions something I did or said I could look it up and see if they are right. Aging is not a disease, it occurs differently in each of us. The beginnings of change in the five senses are as follows; in the 50's it is vision, taste late 50's, smell mid 70's, , of course we do not experience these in any noticeable order. Some elderly may not experience any of these changes. I know some older people that can work circles around people younger than they are. What ever changes come most older adults are in pretty good health. Look at the changes in medicine and the life saving devices we have now days, this has increased life expectancy greatly.

Here is a number of ways old age can be defined; 40 years may be discriminated for employment, 55 individuals qualify for subsidized employment and can learn new work skills, 62 you can take early retirement, however with people living longer people born after 1938 can work until age 67 and at age 70 is mandatory retirement in some professions.

Old age consists of ages nearing or surpassing the average life span.. We have wrinkles or liver spots on the skin, our hair turns grey or white or we can lose our hair. We can lose some or all hearing, loss of reaction, and our ability to think or recall memories. The life expectancy in the United States for women is 80 years and for men it is 77 years. Lets face it we start getting older each at birth. You can visit the Ohio Department of Aging web site here. Please feel free to comment, I would like to know what you think of aging.

The Past in Review

I now wonder if there was ever the good old day's, probably for the young, but grown ups had to face the reality of the day. Hard times come in every era, they are faced and the country moves on with life. We have had our share of wars, famines, floods, earth quakes, financial failures and let us not forget the great depression. This was an awful time, people out of work and on welfare, we made it through and then headed into a war. I was born during this time and my mom told us many times of the hardships they went through, how sometimes they had to steal their meals and did get caught a few times and my Dad had to serve jail time.

The population was not as large then, we had more breathing room. The roads and the automobiles that traveled them were being improved upon. Us that were born in the 1920s -30s-40s know how the cars were being made better each year. My first car a 1949 Ford had real chrome for the front bumpers and the rear bumpers and there was a lot more room inside. Not like the cars of today, small compact and the shift is in between the driver and passenger, I have to admit I did like it when they went to automatic shifting, there is so many styles to choose from now days. People did enjoy buying cars, and they found out that going places was fun and as cars improved so did the speed of the car. In the beginning people bought more Ford cars because they were cheaper.

Movie prices were a lot cheaper, you could go sometimes for a nickel and most often it was a dime. I fell in love with the movies when I was a kid and still like them (most times I rent movies now days). In those early days you could stay and see the movie over and over, you could stay all afternoon if you liked. I did this on Saturdays and to my mothers woe ended up with a bad headache, but this did not stop me, foolish girl. To me movie stars in those days were stars, not like today when they demand millions for making a movie. Movies then made you laugh and cry forgetting your troubles for awhile, the last silent film was made in 1931, the end of an era, but not forgotten, who could forget Clara Bow the "It Girl". Technology that would lead to technicolor pictures was being explored.

Radio in the beginning was called "wireless telegraphy", improvement was on its way and I think it is still going on. It has always disputed who was the one to invent it because many men staked claim they did. When I was a kid we had many favorite programs and when our favorite one was on, if we were outside we headed in. Some of the old ones were I Love A Mystery, Amos and Andy and Fibber Mgee & Molly, for kids there was The Shadow, Green Hornet and a few more, I can't remember them. I can see that old radio set today, I think it was between 3 feet and 4 feet tall, brown color the front had some kind of cloth over the speaker and knobs in front just below where you tuned in you station.

Actually the telephone was being used in the later part of the 1880s, then they were one style. When phones became popular they there were many styles. I remember our phone stood up and the receiver hung on the side of the phone. As the telephone was to become more used, people saw it as a quick way of communication, more people started to use them in office buildings and the rush was on to have a phone in your home. People liked the new styles that were being manufactured, our phone number was just three numbers and we had to go through an telephone operator. We used ours too much when we first got it, so my mother laid down the rules for its use, I have to say when she was not home we called every one of our friends, this did not last long, we had a younger sister that told on us, maybe we should of shared with her. Who could of looked into the future and saw cell phones, the rage of today.

Some of the things that happened along the way to 2008, seems like a life time ago to the "Roaring Twenties" that we grew up in. 1930--saw nylons made, in those days women would kill for them, just a phrase, but the war years saw them not being made 1940s saw the appearance of microwaves and nuclear weapons, which we could of done with out, the proof of this during the second world war when we dropped the atom on Japans two cities, this was an inhuman act. 1950s saw video cassette recorders, pacemakers, digital clocks and computers. 1960s saw laser, computer mouse and video game consoles. 1970s-there was email, mobile phones, personal computers, pocket calculators and DNA thank goodness they can catch more criminals. 1980s-was compact disk, the artificial heart, the internet and DNA finger printing. 1990s-the world wide web, Harry Potter books, the tragedy oh the Oklahoma City bombing, Beanie Babies and fashions were changing. 2000s-mobile phones, cell phones, flat screen TVs and credit cards which have put millions of people in debt up to their eyebrows.

We have come a long way baby and we haven't got there yet. Just think from model A cars to SUVs and vans, different from phones to cell phones, from early vacuum cleaners to robot vacuum cleaners, from Orville Wrights glider to jets breaking the sound barrier, from phonographs to CDs, from Radio to Flat Screen TVs, from horse drawn fire carriers to highly sophisticated fire trucks. I have lived to see all this and I am still amazed at it all, and to think there is more to come, look at us flying all over space and building space labs and satellites that bring in all kinds of communications back to earth. I only touched on the inventions of all the years there is so much invented it wouldfill several books and then some.