In Memory of my friend

My beloved cat Scamper has been lain to rest today. He was 14 years old. He is the first pet to die that I really cared about. I figured I wouldn't see him again when I left to come back to school. We're not sure what was wrong with him but my grandmother hypothesizes that he may have had a tumor of some sort. A year or so ago Scamper had a toe removed because of a tumor on it. We think that perhaps he may have had cancer elsewhere.

Scamper came into my life when I was 6 years old. He and his brother Thumbs, who still has a bounce in his step, were presents to my brother and I from my grandparents. Because of my mother's cat allergy the kitties stayed at my grandparents just down the street and we saw them constantly. Scamper was always the high-strung one. He tended to be nervous, always jumping when the phone rang and he would get frightened when I would take him outside. Of the brothers Scamper seemed to be the spokesman and communicate his wishes and complaints to whoever would listen. He loved to eat grass and climb all over the place. Many a time in his younger days when he was "missing" we just had to look up and he would be on top of something. He was certainly a mischievous kitty.



This past summer Scamper was not himself. His hearing and eyesight seemed to be going. He never seemed to know where he was. I would have him on my lap and he would put out his paw as if to step off, like he couldn't tell he was above the ground.He would just wander around and got dreadfully skinny. He would eat allot but he was just wasting away.

Evidently this morning he wouldn't eat and seemed to be losing control of himself. So my grandma figured it was time and he was put to sleep and buried on their property. My poor sweet cat. Scamper makes me think of my childhood. Pets are very special to children. They are friends unlike any human can be. I will miss my Scampy. He has been part of home life for so long. I wonder if Thumbs will act any different now. They have always been together. I'm glad I wasn't home. It is a cruel world. Praise the Lord for Jesus. His coming will save the animal world too. They don't deserve to suffer.


(Scanned pic of young Scamper and Thumbs)

Hmmm

What makes you you is your memory. Without memory one has no identity.

I learned that today. :-)

When we were discussing Job in Sabbath School last weekend I thought about this: Job never got an explanation to why he was suffering. All he needed was to realize who God is, the all-powerful personal Creator. We don't need to know "why", we need to know Him. And have faith that in time we will understand. We may never know on this earth why certain things happen. But we can know the God who controls all and trust Him and grow through the experiences.

By the way, I am married. My husband is RDS1, otherwise known as Research Design and Statistics 1. It was an arranged and forced marriage performed by Dr. Ruth WilliamsMorris. It is quite tragic and I am not sure how much affection I will be able to give. It seems it will be a tough relationship. *sigh* :-)

Back Roads

It’s been one of those days where it is tempting to just lay on a sofa, read a book, sip lemonade and have a fan pointed at you for hours on end. Today was a very hot and humid day. However this evening we had a thunderstorm. I love storms in the summer. There is just something about the smell in the air when it has passed by, a freshness that can not be duplicated. It was just becoming dusk when I went down to my grandmother’s – just down the road. I spent about 45 minutes pampering the cats, eating blueberries and visiting with my grandparents. I took the cats one at a time out to the breezeway on my lap. We saw bats flying around the trees. It was such a beautiful evening. When I bade my grandparents adieu I decided to go for a drive. One thing I absolutely love about rural America is back roads. They are so much fun! Windy, sometimes bumpy roads surrounded by fields, woods, meadows, hills all around, passing farms and houses set on big lawns. I rolled down the windows, put on the high beams in the growing darkness and ventured off into the darkness. It was glorious! There are just a couple places that I will burst into song: mowing, in the shower, and the other is driving. What a beautiful beginning to the Sabbath. I belted out my favorite hymns and praise songs as the moon shone brightly toward the west and on the eastern horizon lightning flashed behind the clouds as the storm was still rumbling in the distance. It was just beautiful. Several times I stopped the car. All that could be heard were peepers and crickets singing their tunes. The roads were starting to become foggy, like a blanket that the car passed through. I saw a cat stalking in the bushes. To my delight I saw a skunk romping across a lawn. Farmers were ending their day in the barns. Cows were moving slowly across the fields. A frog jumped out of my way and many a squirrel looked around in alarm. It was such a perfect summer evening. I sang my praises to my Lord for this beautiful day and I could just sense His smile on me. “Thank you Jesus for this present, a beautiful opening to Your Sabbath.”

I encourage you to take the back roads today. Take some time to get away from distraction and notice what Jesus has for you to enjoy. I know many people who are stressed every single day. There can be so much to do, so many things that fill our minds. Too many people just fall to their beds at night never having taken a moment to reflect, to think, to be calm. “Peace I leave with you” Jesus tells us. There is peace to be had in every situation. We have to “be still and know that I am God” and then God’s peace will fill our hearts and rejuvenate our minds.

(for some reason I really like this picture)

Local woman attributes longevity to "God's Blessings"

By: Wendy Post

07/29/2007

Hilda Wiser sat in her living room chair on the morning of July 20th and awaited a ride that would soon take her and her friends to lunch.

The special outing took place that particular day because Hilda, who was born in Port Alleghany and moved to Owego at a young age, was celebrating her 103rd Birthday! But according to her 73 year old son, Bruce, it's hard to believe that she is celebrating 103. "It just happens," said Bruce about aging, "sometimes I can't even believe I'm 73." But sharp as a tack, Hilda still gets out for drives with her son and enjoys spending time with her friends from the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Catatonk; a church that she attended. Hilda lives with her son in their modest home located on Sherwood Boulevard in Owego. According to Hilda, her son's father died of pneumonia when Bruce was only a year and a half old. "He died just before the Sulfur drugs came out," said Hilda. Bruce has remained by her side since that day and has witnessed her timeless aging. Friends from her church are also amazed that Hilda is living gracefully past 100 years old. Anne Whitaker, a church member that checks on Hilda regularly, is 87 years old and living her life actively and independently. "I marvel at Hilda," said Anne. "I'm amazed at what I can do at 87."

Some may wonder what to do at the age of 103. Hilda likes to sit comfortably in her home and listen to Sabbath music, and occasionally enjoys an outing with her son. For the birthday celebration on July 20th, Faith L. Fish, who is also a church member that visits Hilda, brought her son Christopher along with some freshly picked blueberries. Although Hilda also feels that her health is pretty good for 103 years old, she claims to be a bit "wobbly." But in spite of the mild signs of aging, Hilda stands strong that her life continues through "God's blessings".

©Owego Pennysaver 2007

The article online didn't include the picture of her that was in the paper.....but she is a member of my church! Can you imagine being 103? I can't imagine being 30...lol

Hope

I realized today how incredibly grateful I am for the hope we have in Christ. Today I went to my great uncle's funeral. He had cancer but was expected to live for awhile longer. Evidentally last Sabbath he had a heart attack and died later that day. I honestly have to say that I didn't know the man, had only seen him acouple times. But he is my grandmother's brother. She has 4 siblings and he was the first to go. It is very remarkable to get to the age of 85 and have all your siblings alive to this point. I hadn't been to a funeral in years. And I hadn't been to a viewing since I was probably 5 years old. I have been very sheltered from death. To this day I have yet to lose anyone close to me, even a pet. My cats are 14 years old. Our dog died last year but I wasn't too attatched to him and didn't see him when he died. I am very grateful that I haven't felt the pain of such a lose. Today I saw those who were experiencing that lose.
Last night we went to the viewing and to be honest I was wary of seeing my great uncle- Judson. It seems weird but when I did see him, it almost didn't seem real, until I saw a little boy touch his hand. It never occurred for me to touch him. It seemed that as long as I didn't, there was a wall up in my mind. It is a bit hard to explain. After I saw that boy touch him I wanted to as well, to make it more real to me. But I couldn't, I wouldn't.
Today was the funeral. Judson's son sat in the front corner and cried much of the time. There is something that happens to me when I see people cry, especially men. It is so sad to me. My great aunt from California came in last night and so the funeral was the first time she was seeing her brother. I saw her come in and she made a bee-line for the casket. There was something in the manner that she went forward and then stopped at his side that just gripped my heart. I know they were close. I have only one sibling so I don't know the experience of several brothers or sisters but just the thought of coming to see my brother who has died, not having seen him in months...tears me up inside. I cannot comprehend. It was possibly one of the saddest moments I have ever seen: Her rushing to, then standing at his side. My grandfather was teared up during the service. My grandmother wasn't though. I have never seen my grandmother cry. I think it would frighten me.
Funerals are awful. The epitome of the curse on this earth, a seperation that the rest of the universe cannot understand. When the casket goes into that hole in the ground.......no more will anyone see that person. I am young....so perhaps perspectives change as time passes. But death is not something I expect at this point in life, it is not natural. I can see how one with no hope would go from a funeral service with the thoughts "what is the point in life? Everyone will just die."
But praise the Lord! There is hope for the taking. "There will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain." In the past year death seems to be creeping up on me: first a church member this past spring and now a distant family member. Hopefully these premonitions will not continue. But, forbit it if they do, there is a Savior. There is hope eternal. Seperation and endings are things which I don't like. I get broken up over silly things: I recall when I was around 8 years old my grandparents took my brother and I to the circus. We got there early in the morning to see all the trucks roll in and we stayed all day watching the huge tent go up, the animals let out and in the evening we attended. At the end of the day I was so distraught over it ending...I had been part of it and now it was over. That was over the circus....what about lives ending which I have been connected to? I cannot imagine. Someday I will have to face this. But I pray and trust that I will never have to face such things alone. Jesus experienced seperation which we can never fathom no matter how much pain we have to face. He is our comfort, our protection, and Savior.
"We have this hope which burns within our hearts...hope in the coming of the Lord" Oh what His returning will mean.....come Lord Jesus.

Rainbows around us

I saw one of the more spectacular things I have ever seen this evening. To set the stage I shall inform you that I live in a very hilly terrain: not mountains but many hills and valleys. I live more on a hill. And we have been having some pretty nice sunsets lately. ---------->

So this evening having returned from making some purchases I saw the sunset and grabbed my camera and took some very nice pictures. When I was satisfied I went to my room to putter around. Several minutes later I happened to pass by my father “Ladybug (as he calls me) did you see the rainbow?” Rainbow? I grab my camera again and rush outside to behold a spectacular sight……a rainbow was stretched across the sky- but what made it spectacular was that I could see both horizons where it originated (because I live on a hill) therefore it was a humungous arch. There are no words to describe what an impressive sight it was. I of course started snapping pictures. And of course I couldn’t fit the whole thing in the pictures because of the size. I shall attempt to share the pictures. I ran back in the field next to our yard to try to get a better shot. Then I ran like a lunatic to the car, barefooted and sped down the road to see if I could get a better shot- to no avail. 10 minutes later the rainbow was gone. And it started to rain. But I hope I always remember that rainbow.

The irony of this is that I almost missed that rainbow. I was outside faced the other direction looking at the sunset as the rainbow must have been starting to come into view. If my father hadn’t said something I would have totally missed that spectacular sight.

I wonder how often God is trying to get our attention....or we are so preoccupied with what we think is important that we completely miss the promises of God all around us? We might be faced the entirely wrong direction and have just to turn around, look around, and we would see a completely different picture?

(pictures aren't the best: it was starting to get dark and my flash made everything too pink for some reason :p)