Berries, Berries, Berries

It's Friday! Fridays use to mean more to me when I was working. Now everyday has its own appeal. That will probably change once the school semester starts and I realize what a heavy load I took. Oh well, I know it will be exhilerating and I will be that much closer to reaching my goal. Today is Ryan's funeral. The kids are taking off early from work and coming home to get ready. I have to get a few articles ironed this morning. Erik has a funeral and a wedding to go to all in the same day. Talk about a rollercoaster of emotions. I always dread funerals. I get this inner turmoil going on. Part of me tries really hard not to cry because I want to appear strong and yet empathy always seems to have the upper hand, especially when someone young passes. As a parent I think that is the absolute worse thing that could ever happen in life. A couple of years ago Kristin had a good friend get killed in a car accident and that was really tough also. It is just so important to slow down and experience your relationships. We truly do not know the amount of time we have here.

On a happier note ~ yesterday I bought more blueberries. We have been on a major blueberry kick around here. I think we have been eating about a pound everyday. I would kind of like to make some blueberry jam but I haven't quite achieved that level of ambition. Making jam is kind of tedious. Not to mention I have memories of kittens every time I think about making jam. A few years back, Kristin and I were picking wild blackberries to make jam and out of nowhere came a mother cat who would not leave us alone. I am not a kitty person and I kept telling Kristin "don't touch her". We tried to ignore her for awhile but our berry picking led us right into her little "nest" where she had 4 little kittens who were in really bad shape. Their eyes were matted closed, they had ticks and they were obviously starving to death. One of them was laying on its side and it looked like it was already becoming part of the soil. A layer of dust had settled on it and he really looked too far gone. During this time I kept hearing two voices in my head. One kept asking "what have I gotten myself into?" and the other one reminded me of what a wonderful opportunity this was for my daughter to experience a life lesson in compassion and doing something that might make a difference. As God would have it, I just so happened to have a box in my car. As soon as we put it on the ground, the mother cat jumped right in. She knew we were there to rescue her. We scooped up her kittens and drove them to our veterinarian, but as luck would have it, they were closed. we took them home and gave the mother food and water. In a couple of hours her milk came in and she began nursing the kittens. The next day I called the vet and they had me bring in the worse kitten. They gave me ointment for the eyes and liquid antibiotics to administer. They were very generous as they only charged me $35.00 for all of the medicine and office visit. We were able to remove all of the ticks and keep a watchful eye on all of them. The mother cat was very affectionate and seemed so appreciative. Once they were all healthy, I ran an advertisement and gave them all away. My garage smelled really bad and my entire family learned a valuable lesson, but that is the last time I went berry picking! We all seem to be rather soft hearted when it comes to animals. This past year Kristin brought home a little Pomeranian that was running confused down a busy street. In the beginning these types of things are always an inconvenience but in the end they always work out so I encourage the will to help. It took us 2 days but the little Pomeranian was returned to his rightful owner. A little kindness can go along way and I can see how it has shaped the character of my kids - something that is worth all the inconvenience in the world.