Saturday, July 9, 2011

TRAGEDY TURNS TO TRIUMPH

Not sure how to post this the way I want to, but it's amazing and makes me cry every time I watch it. For now, I guess you'll just have to copy and paste the URL into your browser.

http://www.godvine.com/Injury-Turns-into-Inspiration-for-One-High-School-Girl-323.html


Friday, July 8, 2011

SETTING SABLE FREE

Two friends have recently started/re-started blogging, and in the process of commenting, I once again opened my blog. Goodness, it's hard to believe that it's been dormant since 2009. Perhaps now is a good time to revitalize Cath's Corner, too.

Today was a sad day. We set our sweet Sable free to join Jelly Bean and Taffy and Midnight in Heaven. She can once again see and hear and run freely. I know they are having a wonderful time frolicking tonight.

It was time to let her go. She was blind and deaf and had started getting confused to the point of getting trapped in random corners. How scary that must be to have no idea where you are or how to get where you're trying to go. She even had trouble finding the water in the water dish. For the longest time I thought she was just drinking copious amounts of water. She would stand at the bowl and lap and lap and lap. Then, after a comment my neighbor made, I started watching and realized only about one in ten laps actually connected with the water.

Bless her heart. Her old plumbing hasn't worked properly the last couple of years, but she valiantly tried to make it outside in time. She had a funny routine. First she stood and stared at the door, waiting for it to magically open. And sometimes, if one of us was walking by at just the right time, it worked! But if the door didn't open, she would start growling very softly. As the minutes passed, the growl increased in volume until it finally, in one last valiant effort to get the door to open, became a bark. That worked almost every time.

There was one "constant" in her life to the very end. Roy and I never figured it out. Sable had a "sixth sense" when it came to my food. While I was still dishing things up in the kitchen, Sable could always find the steps leading up to the couch and would climb them and wait for me to come sit down with my tray of food. As she got creakier, she sometimes fell off of the steps...but always climbed back up in a flash. What could I do but reward her for her perseverance?



Rewarding her was a bit tricky. Since she was almost totally blind, she thought anything moving in the vicinity of her mouth was food. There is a true art to turning loose of a morsel quickly enough that your fingers do not become part of the cuisine.


I'll miss the click of her toenails on the floor in the morning. I'll miss her meeting me in the kitchen for her morning treat. I'll miss her "high 5" over and over as she tried to impress anyone and everyone to offer her food. I'll miss her barking when her leash came into sight. I'll miss her loyalty and her love. You blessed our lives, Sable, and we'll miss you.

Friday, October 30, 2009

TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES

This was actually written for my wonderful College Crazies Crew from church. It applies to all of the younger generation, so share the thought with your kids and grandkids!

Take lots of pictures...especially of events that shape your life. I have the privilege right now of scanning the BSU scrapbooks from the late 60's when my "extended family" was made up of my friends from the Baptist Student Union at ASU. What awesome memories. Those retreats and State Conventions set the course for the rest of my life. They began my personal relationship with Christ and planted the seed for a desire to serve....Now is YOUR time! Surround yourself with Christian friends. Take advantage of life-changing and life-enriching events and activities. Feed your faith. And take lots of pictures!!!!! I wish I had a million more!!!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

NOSTALGIC

Hmmmmm...I wonder what it says about my frequency of blogging if I admit that I couldn't even remember the URL to my blog...had to go to my niece's site and click on the link. Bless you, CS!!! I had forgotten my password, too, of course. Perhaps I'll need to do this a tad more frequently.

I'm a bit sad right now...well, probably more nostalgic than sad. An icon of "my era" is coming down tomorrow. The Women's High Rise Dorm at Angelo State University will be imploded at sunrise tomorrow. The newspaper called it the "completion of a cycle."

It had its grand opening in 1968...my junior year at Angelo State. Ten stories high; enough to make San Angeloans ooooh and aaaah. My best friend lived in the dorm, and I have fond memories of sitting on the floor of her room, painting shirts for a couple of friends of ours. They lived at Grapecreek, so the shirts exclaimed loudly our versions...Banana Brook and Strawberry Stream. I wonder if Mike and Robert remember.

It was "state of the art" back then. A bathroom for each 4 girls...a suite. No more community bathroom down the hall. Angelo State was to be envied.

It has touched my life several more times through the years. My older daughter stayed there for band camps, and she also lived there her Freshman year at ASU. More fun memories for this old mom.

But it has outlived its usefulness. It couldn't keep up with the forward march of technology. It was obsolete. It would cost more to "fix it" than to start from scratch. And so, we must say goodbye. No more will we see the twin high rises defining the skyline of the area. No more will we see the messages in lights in the windows. No more will it make the news when pranksters change the intended messages.

I'm not saying it shouldn't come down to make way for progress. It should. The newspaper also said, "It's had a good run, a lot of good memories, but it's time to make room for the next generation." Still, I can't help but be a bit sad about its departure. Well done, ol' girl...and thanks!



Wednesday, March 4, 2009

WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD

Santa brought me an iPod for Christmas. Andrea gave me a few pointers when she was home. So now, here I sit, able to enjoy all of those wonderful songs that I loved so many years ago. This is one of the great ones! It IS a wonderful world, and I have been incredibly blessed!

"What a Wonderful World"
by Louis Armstrong

I see trees of green
Red roses, too
I see them bloom
For me and you
And I think to myself...what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue
And clouds of white
The bright blessed day
The dark sacred night
And I think to myself...what a wonderful world.

The colors of the rainbow
So pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces
Of people going by.

I see friends shaking hands
Saying, "How do you do."
They're really saying,
"I LOVE YOU."

I hear babies cry
I watch them grow
They'll learn much more
Than I'll ever know
And I think to myself...what a wonderful world.
Yes, I think to myself...what a wonderful world!!!