She appeared one morning at my back door, abandoned by those she thought cared for her!

I will never understand caring for such a beautiful, sweet cat and then all of a sudden rejecting her, turning her away.  That’s what happen to “Blackie”.

At first she was a bit fearful, keeping a safe distance, but as the days passed she started to trust me allowing me to love her.  I gave her a blanket to sleep on, and fresh water and food twice a day.

From that first morning, and as the days passed, she became my constant companion when I was working in my yard or sitting on my back porch reading and enjoying the day.

She did a cute thing of jumping up and down on my back door the moment she realized I was in the kitchen, letting me know she was hungry.

When I took her food out to her she would always wait before eating until I would pet her.  It was so cute and touching.  Her way of letting me know she trusted me and was grateful for the love I was giving her.

One morning several weeks ago, when I was in the kitchen making my coffee, I realized she was not at the door and not in her bed. I called for her but she did not come to me as she always would do.

After an hour or so I went out to look for her, and with tears and a very sad heart, I found her in our yard very close to our back porch, her home.

I don’t know what happened to her, but I do know that I miss her so very much, and oh how I miss the joy of just caring for her.

Caring for “Blackie” was a simple joy, one that life gives us, one we often take for granted until lost.

Have a blessed day.

Today, recognize and enjoy the simple, loving joys in your life.

I recently heard a commercial, right now I can’t recall the product, but in the spot the words, “take lots of photos, in 15 years you will be glad you did” were used.  How true!

Photos are really so much more important to me at my age and in my life right now, I love to frame and give them as gifts, old ones or new.  A framed photo, given with love as a gift, is really special.

Most of us have boxes or albums full of old photos, and I am no exception.  Pulling them out from time to time brings tears, laughter, and memories.  Recently I ran across a group of photos of a Halloween party we had with a group of old neighbors some years back.

Let me share some of those with all of you now.

What fun we all had that night, each photo was taken as we opened our front door, being surprised at each of the couple’s costumes.

In the first photo our old friend, the wacky guy with the beer, silly nose and glasses, is now in a nursing home suffering from very early Alzheimer’s disease.  He has not known his wife, or children for years.

The friar and the smiling angel…..our sweet angel passed away of a rare disease five or six years ago.

The Statue of Liberty and the baseball fan, were our very closest friends at the time, so many laughs and vacations together.  They moved away, divorced, and our dear Frank died of a heart attack in his late 40’s.

In the last photo, our loving priest, who lived in the next house down, was shoveling snow about 6 years ago and collapsed.  A horrible night for us, my son working to revive him while we all waited for the medics to arrive. So proud of my son that night.  Our dear priest could not be saved, he passed away before getting to the hospital.

Take lots of photos, you will be glad you did!

Miss all of them, and the memories we all created together.

There is an old song from years ago that I have always loved, “Young at Heart”.

Frank Sinatra made the song famous but I love Michael Buble’s updated version.  I have attached the song below, if you have never heard it!

The song came to mind recently while I was waiting for a prescription at the pharmacy section of my local grocery store.

As I waited, two older women, carts in tow, started talking, and from their conversation I gathered they had gone to school together at some point in their lives.

I was struck at the difference in the two, one seemed filled with joy, smiling, laughing so many times during their conversation, and she had on really cute sneakers too!  The other one just the opposite, grumpy, negative, she just seemed so unhappy.

Granted I don’t know what is going on in their lives, or what hardships they are facing, financial, health, or maybe loneliness, but as an older woman myself, I want to always try to be “Young at Heart”.

There was a quote posted on a sign at our area amusement park, Coney Island, in Cincinnati, that I have always loved,

We do not stop playing because we grow old;

We grow old because we stop playing.

So true, don’t you think?

When we age there are many ways that can help us stay youthful:

• Be physically active
• Stay up with the world, especially “tech things”
• Learn something new every single day
• Get a regular hair cut and color
• Develop a glass-half-full attitude
• Change your style of dress and color
• Be with younger people when you can
• Sing and dance
• Be positive
• Dream
• Smile, frowning instantly ages us
• Love

I believe being “Young at Heart” is a way of life that is active, loving, a feeling of hope everyday, without the regrets of the past hanging over our heads, living life to it’s fullest, with a grateful heart, facing all that living brings.

Being “Young at Heart” is part of me and loving my life, I hope yours too!

This winter we have had very little snow in our area, actually only one that called for the snow shovel.

The first one is always special for my little family,

When the snow falls and the cold comes, me and my son will always put in a request for my husband’s hot cocoa.

It is a simple recipe, just one of those very large Hershey bars, and milk. 

That’s it, but it is yummy, with that Hershey bar chocolate taste.

Just melt the chocolate bar and add the milk, stirring until hot.

Don’t forget to top with marshmallows or whip cream.

I have shared my husband’s illness with all of you before, he has progressive Multiple Sclerosis. The disease is really hitting is legs and balance, and now I see issues with the use of his hands.  He has trouble holding utensils and drops his fork on a regular basis at the dinner table.

When we requested he make us “his” hot cocoa he hesitated, but did not want to disappoint us.   Taking his time he completed our request and seemed pleased that he could do that something we hold as a special winter treat.

I always want him to feel useful and needed in our daily lives.

What a special, “sweet” gift to us, a cup of hot cocoa made with love!

Doing difficult tasks with love really does help us all appreciate the simple joys we sometimes take for granted.

I am so very proud of the way he fights every single day not giving in to this devastating disease.

As I have mentioned before, my prayer is that if God has a reason not to cure him, please do not let him deteriorate more.

Love to all.