*TO REMEMBER ME*

The day will come when my body will lie upon a white sheet neatly tucked under four corners of a mattress located in a hospital busily occupied with the living and the dying. At a certain moment a doctor will determine that my brain has ceased to function and that, for all intents and purposes, my life has stopped.
When that happens, do not attempt to instill artificial life into my body by the use of a machine. And don't call this my deathbed. Let it be called the Bed of Life, and let my body be taken from it to help others lead fuller lives.
Explore every corner of my brain. Take my cells, if necessary, and let them grow so that, someday, a speechless boy will shout at the crack of a bat and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain against her window.
Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes to the winds to help the flowers grow.
If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weaknesses and all prejudice against my fellow man.
If, by chance, you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you.If you do all I have asked, I will live forever.

* THE PERFUME ADDICT'S CREED *

The Perfume Addict's Creed

I want it. I want it all. I want it now.

If it is not available at any store in my vicinity, or is prohibitively expensive, I want it most of all.

I am perfectly willing to forego any necessities of life, such as food for my children in order to have it.

I recognize my aromacological dependency.

I recognize your aromacological dependency.

I will willingly aid and abet your dependency, as you will mine.

This makes us infinitely happy.

All money saved by virtue of comparison shopping equals found money and therefore it is not counted as spending.

If everyone else has it, I must have it too.

If I have sniffed everything that I have already purchased, I must immediately buy more scents.

*At this point, it is customary to recite your Visa number from memory.

(adapted from the Crazy Gardener's Creed, author unknown)

*JUST BE YOURSELF*

The world would like to change you;

There are pressures all around.

You must decide just who you are,

Then firmly hold your ground.

You have an image of yourself,

An ideal sense of you

And to this vision you must always

Struggle to be true.

You know what you are good at,

And you know where talents lie;

But if you're ruled by others,

Your uniqueness could pass by.

Remember, there is too much to learn;

But all new things aren't good

Wisdom lies in what we've learned

And what we have withstood.

So be yourself and don't allow

The world to take control.

Preserving your identity

Is life's most precious goal.

*YOU KNOW YOU ARE A CAT PERSON WHEN........*

You refer to going to the bathroom as "using the litterbox".

You do not consider an outfit complete without some cat hair.

You consider cat hair in your food as extra flavor.

You apologize when you step on a fuzzy cat toy in the dark.

You snap your fingers on one edge of the bed because the cat is sleeping in the middle looking so cute!

You decorate your Christmas tree with dangling cat toys.

Your neighbors refer to you as "the crazy one with all of the cats."

You refer to your cat as your furry child.

Your parents carry pictures of their 'grandcat' in their wallets.

You plan your vacation around the cat show schedule.

You accidentally call your spouse the cat's name!

*ALL I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BIRTHDAYS, I'VE LEARNED FROM MY CATS*

Be finicky, they'll try then to please you.

Give attitude - get attention

If you don't like your presents, SULK.

If you get bored at your party - just curl up for a nap.

Don't stress out over your first gray whisker....

Act completely unimpresed by the gifts your receive.

Remember, this is your day, so if anyone bugs you, you're allowed to hiss and spit.

Take the day off and lie in the sun.

Stay out on the prowl all night long.

Demand only the most expensive fresh fish for dinner.

It's a good day to shed your inhibitions.

Act catty - toy with your presents before you tear them open

Don't overdo it with the catnip or you'll regret it in the morning.

If you aren't getting enough attemtion, sharpen your claws on someone's leg.

Don't let anyone or anything PUT YOU OUT!

And remember.......curiosity might kill you, but birthdays wont.

*FOR CARAMEL CAT ACROSS THE RAINBOW BRIDGE*

You walk through my thoughts

With the same sure-footed command

You walked through the house.

Your pitter patter of feet

Pounds like a drum in my head.

No bowl in your special corner;

You thrive on the meat of my mind.

No wrinkles on my bed.

Were your purring, sweet body slept.

Just a heart, crumpled

By the weight of your absence.

Gold green eyes

That flashed warmth like a smile

Now bridge hot tears

To my eyes in remembrance.

My lap is empty and cold -

It cannot hold memories

Full and warm.

Alive with your image

And the comfort you were

You walk through my thoughts......

And the pain of your footprints will pass.

*ON A NIGHT OF SNOW*

Cat, if you go outdoors you must walk in the snow

You will come back with little white shoes on your feet.

Little white slippers of snow that have heels of sleet.

Stay by the fire, my Cat. Lie still, do not go.

See how the flames are leaping and hissing now

I will bring you a saucer of milk like a Marguerite,

So white and smooth, so spherical and sweet.

Stay with me cat, Outdoors, the wind blows...

Outdoors the wild winds blow, Mistress, and dark is the night.

Strange voices cry in the trees, intoning stra ge love;

And more than cats move, lit by our green eyes light,

On silent feet where the meadow grasses hang hoar-

Mistress, there are portents abroad of magic and might

And things that are yet to be done. Open the door!

*I WATCHED HER SMALLEST GIRL*

I watched her smallest girl

Totter off to the first day of school

Propped between two older sisters,

Surprisingly protective.

I watched the woman

Watch them also

With her suddenly empty arms

Wrapped across her middle ,

Wrapped tight though the day was warm.

Even when the children had turned the corner,

Her eyes clung to that distance that they had filled.

And she lowered herself to the porch step.

The cat itself detached itself gradually

From the dappled space next to the porch.

He moved toward the woman and sat,

Slid toward her and sat,

Until her was at her feet, watching her watchfulness.

Then he took over her lap

In a breath of movement.

Forcing her arms to peel away from herself

And encircle him.

They commiserated

I think she cried

As her fingers toyed at a snag in the soft, gray fur.

But the message was clear

In the upturned, unblinking wise face of the cat.

That no nest should ever be empty.

*WHEN WE FIRST MET*........

When first we met, we did not guess

That love would prove so hard a master;

Or more than common friendliness

When we first met, we did not guess.

Who could fortell the sore distress;

This irretrievable disaster.

When we first met - we did not guess

That love would prove so hard a master.

*MY REALITY*................

Some days I feel like my life

Is spinning out of control

And I am just along for the ride.

Other days I feel like my life

Is finally my own at last

And I know the answer to everything.

I wonder which one of those thoughts

Is the real one -

If there is such a thing as reality.

Is there reality for anyone

Or does it exist for some people

But not for others?

If it exists for some people

Is it a matter of luck

Or is there some way to attain it?

Do I just not try hard enough

Or is the problem something in my past

Or something I was born without?

My heart doesn't really want an answer

Because there's one thing I do know

My reality will never include you..........

*THE WOMAN I AM*...........

The woman I am

Hides deep in me

Beneath the woman

I seem to be.

She hides away

From the stranger's eye -

She is not known

To the passers-by.

She goes her way.

The woman I seem,

But the woman I am

Withdraws to dream!

The woman I seem

Goes carelessly -

When love goes by

Does not seem to see.

But the woman I am

Knows sudden fear....

And hides more deeply

When love draws near!

For love might look closely

Perhaps...and see

Her beneath the woman

I seem to be!

"I'D LOVE TO BE A FAIRY'S CHILD"

Children born of fairy stock

Never need for shirt or frock.

Never want for food or fire.

Always get their heart's desire.

Jingle pockets full of gold.

Marry when they're seven years old.

Every fairy child may keep

Two strong ponies and ten sheep;

All have houses, each his own,

Built of brick or granite stone.

They live on cherries, they run wild -

I'd love to be a fairy's child.

*MY CHILDREN"...................

I just love this poem by Kahil Gibran (The Prophet):

"Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of life's longing for itself.

They come through you, not from you.

And though they are with you, they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls.

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow.

Which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

*It took me so long to figure this out, I thought they were mine forever and ever......

*TRUE PEACE IS.......*

There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all of the pictures, but there were only two he really liked and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror, for peaceful towering mountains were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw the picture thought it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell, and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all. But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had her nest. There in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest.

The king chose the second picture as the winner. "Because" explained the king, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace."

*I WAS BORN TO..................*

I was born to catch dragons in their dens

And pick flowers

To tell tales and laugh away the morning

To drift and dream life a lazy stream

And walk barefoot across sunshine days............

*IF MY LIFE IS A TRUE SUCCESS*

Happy July 4th.............now let's determine what we want out of life to ensure that it is a successful life?

I hope that my achievements in life shall be these:

That I will have fought for what is right and fair.

That I will have risked for that which mattered.

That I will have given help to those who are in need.

That I will have left the earth a better place for what I've done and who I've been.

*WE LEARNED IT ALL IN KINDERGARTEN*

The other night I was talking on the phone with my best girlfriend and we were trying to solve the problems of the world. We are both middle aged women but feel that we both have noticed quite a decline in good manners, common courtesy and an increase in a 'sense of entitlement' among our younger set today. It seems to be becoming a nation of "I" or "me first" anymore. I then said to her, "you know we learned everything you ever need to know in kindergarten". She and I both felt that they must not be teaching these life rules anymore:

Share everything.

Play fair.

Don't hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don't take things that aren't yours.

Say that you are sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.

Live a balanced life.

Learn some and think some, and draw and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

Take a nap in the afternoon.

When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands and stick together.

Be aware of wonder.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere.

The golden rule and love and basic sanitation.

Ecology and politics and sane living.