Okay, this has nothing to do with death

I officially start back to school next week. That means I will be held accountable for my writing. What it really means, is that I will have to get off my buns and do some stuff that makes me uncomfortable. Before me, the meat and potatoes of this manuscript, is hospice and death row. The latter doesn't make me as squeamish as the first. I sent in a request to a prison in Texas to interview their Chaplain. Hopefully they will approve this. I am so curious to see what this man or woman has to say. They are the only person to offer comfort in an inmates final minutes. Whether he is requested to be there or not, he is. He will give last rights, hold their hand, or simply remain silent. What a powerful thing.

Hospice scares the hell out of me. I think the people that work in that profession are angels here on earth. I want to talk to them, follow them around, and observe. In doing so, I will be face to face with many people who know they are dying. I hope I can keep it together. We'll all be there sooner than we think.

The Death of a Pet

My sister-in-law lost her beloved cat of 14 years a couple of days ago. The cat was hit by a car and a neighbor informed her of what happened. She was really sad. With my three cats, I've had to put them all "down." I don't know which is worse--playing God, or having your pet die suddenly and unexpectedly. What do you think?

I did have my three cats cremated. I still have their ashes, and when the last cat passes, I am going to bury them all together. I would have buried them in the back yard, but my dog would have made things extremely disturbing for me. Like a lot of dogs, she likes to bury things and then dig them back up. It's funny, not haha funny, but when my first cat was cremated, the humane society took a really long time to return the ashes. I called to find out what was going on. They said that they were waiting for more animals before they fired it up. In other words, Penny's ashes were intermingled with Spike's and Fluffy's and maybe a hamster or two.

Losing those fur balls has been very difficult. They're like members of the family. I saw this pic of a pet cemetery in San Francisco. Why aren't there more? Stephen King perhaps?

Birth and Death

Okay, just like my life sometimes, this picture is kind of screwy--both the content and the way I have uploaded it. Since I am technologically challenged, you'll just have to bear with me. Today is my birthday. For most people, this is a happy day. For me, it is usually a day of reflection. I think about what I've done so far--what I haven't done. What I want to do. Life goes by super fast. Blink and you'll miss it. I like to keep my eyes open. Maybe that's why I'm ruminating on the whole death thing. It's going to happen to us all.

My meeting with the medium on Friday was kind of strange. She told me that I died suddenly and tragically in my past two lives, so in this life I made a contract to explore death and not to fear it.

So, how did I spend my day? I went to work. I went to my kids' school orientation. Then I came home. Did a little more work. Dabbled on Face book. Now, I'm here. Posting a silly little thought out loud. I'm grateful I'm here today. Despite the screwiness of things, I'm pretty lucky and I appreciate the fact that I've had this day.