June 18, 2009

• Update

  Thanks to all of you who visited to wish me a Happy Birthday. It feels like I have been “birthdaying” for nearly a week now. Most of the family had other obligations on the day of my actual birthday, so they all did cool stuff in the days before. Last Saturday evening, we were invited to our daughter’s house for chicken stir fry, some yummy lemon bars and I got a nice gift while I was there, too. Donkey’s sister and her daughter who was attending orientation at a nearby college the next day arrived on Sunday, and the whole family gathered once again for a nice meal which was topped off by daughter’s freshly baked buttermilk pies. Yum! The next day, Donkey’s sister decided she needed to do something to repay us for our hospitality, so she fried the chicken I had purchased (I was originally planning a stir fry for everyone before the meal at daughter’s, then did not really have a plan after that, so the fried thing sounded pretty good to me) and we finished off the buttermilk pie for dessert. Sis in law presented me with a lovely birthday present, too! 

  All this early birthday stuff turned out to be a good thing, since we discovered our kitty Juliet had died the morning of my birthday (She came to us on Valentines Day in 2000, so I guess she had to leave us on an equally memorable day.) and no one was in much of a celebratory mood. Donkey’s sister and her daughter did stay a bit longer than they planned to, partly due to the fact that our niece wanted a little time to relax after her drive up from the school before the more than three hour drive back to their home, but also perhaps to spend time with me under the circumstances, too, since I knew they both had obligations waiting for them at home. Donkey’s mom and brother came over, too, so they could spend time with the out of town family before they left. (Or so they said) Our daughter called me in the afternoon since she knew everyone was leaving that day and she was worried I was home alone on my birthday, missing our Julie-cat, but I actually had a houseful when she called. She and her fiance invited us to go out to dinner with them that evening so I would not have to cook and I thought that was very sweet of them.

  Last night I met some new customers at the Mary Kay studio on south side and all of my MK friends there wished me a Happy Birthday. (Some had learned of the other event that occurred that day and expressed their sympathy and understanding as well.) I got the most thoughtful and caring sympathy card from my sales director, too. Tonight, I will attend my regular meeting where I will be presented with a “Birthday Princess” ribbon to wear, since my birthday is this week. The director that runs that meeting bakes killer desserts, too!

  I have been missing our feline family member and it has been scrambling my brain a bit, (left my checkbook on the counter at the bank yesterday after getting a deposit slip out, but a very attentive and honest guy noticed and I was spared the aggravation of having to return for it later) but these last few days have also been a great reminder of how blessed I am to have such wonderful friends and family, too.

  Juliet lived quite a long time for her circumstances and she was able to spend most of her days in familiar surroundings, in her usual routine among people who loved and cared for her. I am grateful for that as well. God was certainly paying attention when I shared my concerns about how our kitty might spend her final days. She was spared from dying in a place where she was cared for in the most professional and caring manner for the last decade, but she never did seem to feel safe there and we did not have to wrestle with that terrible decision that many other pet owners have had to make…

  • 12:36 pm
  • 9 Comments