When Mom died, several of my friends gave me gifts for my garden instead of the typical funeral flowers that die in no time.

As we speak, the blossoming cherry tree is in full bloom, the heather is blooming, the pink azalea is getting there, and several of the bulbs are still beneath the surface. Mom is all around me when I'm in the garden and it feels so good!

Just thought I'd share in case you want to use this thoughtful gift idea.

Have any of you that have lost beloved pets buried them in the back yard, had them creamated or buried in a pet semitary? We have a very pretty place here and today I went to help pick up papers and such and was astounded at how beautiful it was. Flowers blooming everywhere and the small graves tended perfectly. I have my two Maltese girls under a large Oleander bush in my yard. Some of the pet headstones were quite magnificient and had to be expensive. My grandson Jason was with me and asked if I wanted to be buried there since I like animals better than people? Makes one stop and think...

What a lovely grandson. I don't know too many teens who would spend a Saturday helping their grandmother tidy a pet cemetery. You are blessed.

Chatty, you are so blessed by the animals in your life and by your wonderful grandson and by the way you find beauty wherever you go.
smile

Yes thank you but don't forget to include yourselves in that blessing as well. I am so blessed by knowing so many of you and sharing your lives through the computer and via mail and phone calls. You know what, I feel blessed most of the time too. Now if only I could learn tolerance for what I feel to be dumb...thats the only word that comes to mind. Dotsie you are the most tolerant person I know, how do you handle all this stuff? Maybe JJ is right, just laugh!

Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe or call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one....

(by) Jane Howard, Writer...1935-1996
gone much to soon.

Theres a group of volunteers that get together monthly and head into the desert, especially the rest stops and look for animals people have dumped. It is amazing how many have been found. This morning one of our ladies was traveling the highway and saw a man stopped by the side of the road in a pick-up and she said he looked suspicious, so she went further on and parked. Soon the truck past the spot where she was sitting, she waited a few minutes and headed back. Down in a small ravine she spotted a large cardboard box. She then called the Sheriff not knowing what she would discover. The Sheriff's deputy came and they went down into the ravine and could hear whining and scratching. Upon opening the box they found a mother dog and two newly born pups and the mother was giving birth to another one. The vet was called and the mother and her pups were taken to the vet hospital. When removing momma from the box they discovered two other pups that had been crushed or sufficated under her weight and she couldn't move as the enclosure was so tight. All's well with momma and her 7 new puppies. The woman took down the license number of the truck and the man should already be under arrest. I guess I will never get use to the loss of life when it is so unnecessary. I don't even want to think of the horror those animals were facing in that box. I know God led her to that spot at that time...

Guess what I just got the call. The mother dog is a collie, she was so dirty and beat up no one could tell till she was cleaned up. Looks like when she and the pups are ready(older)they will be heading here until a home can be found for each one. Wonder what the papa dog was? Anyone out there want a new dog???

Bless you my dear friend. Poor animals. I just don't understand people that do stuff like this. I guess I never will either.

Chatty --

I think people that hurt children and animals are the worst slime there is !!!!

I hope they throw the book at that guy !!!!

Dotsie -

From the seedlings off Roberts tree I have grown several more trees. I have given 4 of them away to the neighbors so within the next year or two yellow butterflies will be all over our park I also have one saved for the kids when they get a house -- my mom has one -- and I'm keeping one for my neice who lives in COLD COUNTRY

I also have several houseplants that I have grown from clippings in the flowers given to us in memory of Rob -- they have given me great joy over the last few years !!!