Nothing lasts forever

While getting dinner ready last night I witnessed the sudden destruction of one of my most precious bowls. It had been a gift from my daughter, made by a local artist and was one of a kind. It all happened so fast I am not sure who to blame. It could by my dog, my cat or my son assisted by the wind. I am providing a photo of the crime scene with a stand in bowl. The original star of the story is now resting in the trash can.

Position of the actors: the cat was on the table next to the treasured bowl, the dog was on the floor under the table, my son was approaching the patio door on his way in the house from work. (I was in the adjoining kitchen minding my own business)

When all of a sudden the dog lunged at the door in an effort to say hello, scaring the cat and my son, the cat skidded into the bowl, knocking most of it off the table and smashing it into pieces on the carpet in front of the door. The cat took off down the hall, my son backed away from the door with a startled look on his face, I screamed and the dog- well Ejay just sat there wagging his tail as if nothing had happened.

A family affair

I believe I have a very dysfunctional family. It seems that nobody cares about anyone else. Wow how could that be when I have done my best all of my adult life to keep everyone attached? I wish I could put them all in a room until they talk to each other. I remember seeing that in an old movie. It's not that they are angry with each other, they just don't seem to care. It is a very strange family affair.

My ex-husband seems to be the town/family crier. All information filters through him before it is dealt out. This is a rather odd fact as during our 27 year marriage he was pretty much unavailable to everyone. He was either working or drinking. Suddenly everyone cares about poor Donnie. How could this be?

Yesterday I left a small box of Valentine candy for my adult son, who now lives with me, and my young grandson, who lives two houses away. Of course, neither bothered to acknowledge my offering. My son came to dinner last night in his pajamas. I was very impressed with his caring on this special day.

I left the dishes (not many) to go to my grandson's basketball game, thinking the dishes just might be washed when I returned. What a dreamer I am. He can't even pull his body away from his computer to take out the trash once in awhile. That's real caring.

The basketball game didn't happen because not enough of the team showed up and they had to forfeit their game. While waiting for it to start I did actually have a conversation with my daughter. It was the longest in over four years(kind of a captive audience). My son-in-law had major surgery on the 13th and I was seeking information about his welfare. Even though she doesn't care about me I care.

This is just one day in the life of my very dysfunctional family. If I survive I expect a medal and/or recognition from a higher source.

Just one of those days

Today is one of those days that should happen every day. Valentine's day is supposed to be about love and caring about others. I wonder what would happen if more people were kind and thoughtful on all 365 days in the year.

As I have grown older most of my biological family has moved away and are now focused on matters that don't include me. It used to bother me, but now I see that I must have done something right. It is the positive/natural progression of things. As long as they are happy, healthy and not in prison or dependent on drugs that's great. The world is a different place than it was 70 years ago.

It took me a long time to learn that family is more than biology. Although my biological family has moved on my soul family has grown by leaps and bounds over the years. The gestures of love and kindness that they offer every day is amazing.

Sometimes we really can't see the forest for the trees. On this day, which has been made so commercial, it is more meaningful to me to receive a simple smile or hello aimed in my direction than a basket full of flowers.

On second thought I might accept a basket full of chocolate!

Happy Valentine's Day to my readers!

The death of a friend

Over the weekend my son's dog, Leia, completed her job on earth. On Wednesday she was in reasonably good health for her 14 years. She was taken to the animal clinic to have a small tumor removed from her neck. It was supposed to be done with a local injection, but she wouldn't hold still and was put to sleep instead. She came home later that day and seemed fine. Then she stopped eating,began throwing up and became very weak. Saturday morning she went back to the clinic and was hooked up to an IV. Blood tests were done and it was determined that she had a kidney disease, probably caused by the medication she had previously been given. There was nothing the doctor could do. She didn't make it through the weekend.

Leia was a wonderful companion to her master, who had lived through some challenging experiences for the last four years. My son was divorced, unemployed (through no fault of his own) and on the verge of being homeless. Last June he and Leia and all their possessions moved in with me to start over. It took a lot of adjusting, but things worked out. My two mature cats and young dog, Ejay, had to get used to another four legged being sharing their space.

I feel bad that although I took care of Leia's needs during the day while my son was at work I never really bonded with her as well as I should have. In addition to being a great companion for my son she taught Ejay to share and became his friend. They each had their own toys and places to sleep and pretty much learned to respect each other.

Leia did a great job of taking care of my son during her life and he deeply misses her. This morning Ejay was looking for her. I don't know how to explain the death of a friend to an animal.

In this photo Ejay is on the right and Leia is on the left, shortly after she moved in.

Waiting around what a waste

This morning I decided that I have been spending too much time on my computer and especially on Facebook, waiting around for people to notice that I am waiting for them to get back to me. One of the things that I really detest is people who don't do what they say they are going to do, and waiting around for them to get around to me is a complete waste of my time. I have decided to back away from this social media. Just clicking a little "like" box is not the same as a conversation.

A friend of mine recently did exactly the same thing. She has a lot to offer, but felt that the little response she was getting was not worth her time. Although I respected her decision I didn't fully understand it- until today.

I fully realize that the world contains takers and givers, but once in a while it would be nice if the takers would at least acknowledge the givers.

When people promise to make the time for me and don't I pretty much feel like an invisible person. I am sure there are many out there who can relate. I have decided the best thing to do is stop waiting around because it is a total waste of my time.

Leave the leftovers alone

I just realized for real this morning that our soul's journey is absolutely an individual one. Our experiences whether as a human or as a spark of light in another realm are meant to help us evolve.

In recent years I have been exposed to people who have tried to shove what they believe down my throat. My refusal to allow them to do that has caused the end of more than one friendship. I believe my guide has on more than one occasion kept me from consuming the left overs belonging to someone else.

I do believe that we each are members of a particular "tribe" made up of like souls, but we still maintain a singular mission to evolve alone.

Help is one thing, but when someone declares that they have the absolute answer to life don't listen to them. They are, for lack of a better description, plain nuts. Don't eat their leftovers!

An individual journey

I finished reading The Afterlife of Billy Fingers by Annie Kagan and would recommend it to anyone who has doubts that there is more than life as a human in store for them. It is a true story of one soul's journey into the next realm, as dictated to his sister Annie.

Many aspects of his journey did not come as a surprise to me. They were concepts that I had already accepted. A statement Billy made that I really liked was, "the key ingredient(to spirit communication) is the right sender, the right receiver and permission from those on the other side". There has to be a good match or it will be one sided and very frustrating for one of the entities.

At first I was a little upset that he said he was floating alone on much of his journey. It has always tended to bother me that I could leave earth and not connect with other spirits. It was explained that each soul goes to a place/level that best suits them. Some souls need a connection with others they may have known in the past, while some are evolved to a point where that is not necessary.

A concept I had already accepted before reading the book is that deceased spirits communicate telepathically. In all my personal communication with them I have only heard a voice one time and that was enough. It occurred in a local deserted cemetery where I heard a man and a woman asking me to help them. It was not long after that experience that I began consciously taking photos containing spirits.

I'm sure we have all heard that there are no mistakes. I always thought that meant that the things that happen to us are meant to happen. Billy's explanation was that WE cannot make a mistake. Imagine that. Whatever we choose to do is always the exact choice we should make. That's an interesting twist on free will.

Even though I really liked this book and recommend it please keep in mind that this is only one souls journey; as on earth we all have our own path to deal with.