People who know me REALLY well know that I love to pour over obituary notices. You can tell a lot about the people, and the people who wrote about them and their relationships. Okay - love - is probably not an appropriate word here, but I do it more out of curiosity than anything. I am also an advocate for writing your own Obituary....even though I haven't done mine because.....I feel I still have lots of time left. Well, ya never know, so perhaps I should get on that.
Recently a man named John (who they called Jack - I must try and find out why the British do this name change thing...) ANYWAY, a man named John/Jack passed away and what caught my eye was not the pictures of him as a young man, along side a picture of him, obviously in a hospital bed, older and SMILING, but the length of the obituary itself.
I KNOW what it costs to put in an obituary, and it ain't cheap!
I began to read "with heavy hearts and deepest sorrow..." and I looked at the picture of older John/Jack and I got the sense that, yes, it was indeed with heavy hearts and deepest sorrow that they made this announcement. He radiated....I don't know exactly, but almost a calm reassurance and a good, kind heart....just through the expression on his face.
I read on about how John/Jack made a career in banking and later opened a cleaning franchise. He was well rounded and diverse. He was a motorcycle road racing champ, a chess player, a golfer, a member of a rifle team and, in later life, obtained the highest class average in computer programming at a local college.
He loved 'all things English' ( as do I). Including Sherlock Holmes, Robin Hood, limericks and British pub songs, just to name a few from the Obit.
He was an inventive and imaginative father; creating treasure hunts with invisible ink and encrypted coded clues. Along with that he and his two daughters loved drama and created audio tapes - "An Appointment with Fear." What fun!!!
Among the other numerous attributes listed John/Jack was a self taught harmonica player and painter.
AND of course - he loved animals!
As I said, the Obit was long....and glowing, about his advice on life issues, his forgiving and gracious nature and his wonderful rendition of the "Darktown Poker Club" One of my dear husbands favs!!!
John/Jack seemed to be a wonderful, and rare man. But the line that got me the most was:
"his ability to show emotions whenever he spoke of his family, beliefs or convictions and his unwavering integrity and commitment to putting others and their needs before himself."
I think the world could learn a lot from John/Jack and how he lived.
*****
Speaking of...well...death. The funeral song that seems to be pulling into the lead is not Amazing Grace, My Way or a religious hymn, but Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. Yes, the song from The Life of Brian by Monty Python....a toe tapper if there ever was one.
One that has been requested but refused: Queens Who Wants to Live Forever.
******
I read, with great dismay, that there is a movement afoot to have the Swiss stop eating cats and dogs. Yes - you read that right!
A petition with 16,000 signatures has been handed to the Swiss parliament, calling for the government to stop people eating "domestic animals" as, apparently, three percent of the Swiss "secretly" eat cat or dog.
And even more disturbing.....cat appears on traditional Christmas menus in some areas of Switzerland. It is often cooked for the festive season in a similar way to rabbit - with white wine and garlic.
According to that go to place - Wikipedia: 'The cuisine of Switzerland is multifaceted. While some dishes such as fondue, raclette or rösti are omnipresent through the country, each region developed its own gastronomy according to the differences of climate and languages. Traditional Swiss cuisine uses ingredients similar to those in other European countries, as well as unique dairy products and cheeses such as Gruyère or Emmental, produced in the valleys of Gruyères and Emmental. '
No mention of Pussy in a Pot, Cat ala Carte, or Dog Tartar.
A large number of international institutions have their seats in Switzerland, in part because of its policy of neutrality. Geneva is the birthplace of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and the Geneva Conventions and, since 2006, hosts the United Nations Human Rights Council.It also hosts the UN Agency the World Health Organization. No mention of an animal humane society.......
Note to self: don't visit Switzerland, especially at Christmas. . ......
****
Speaking of animals. I have been perusing the Interweb because I have a sneaky suspicion that our housesitter is going to propose to his girlfriend and that will put an end to him watching my house - as in LIVING here.
I saw a question from someone asking how much they should charge to take care of a cat, not live in, just water, feed etc. and I read this response.
"About $50.00 a week. But I pay my cat sitter $20/day to come to my house, check on the food, change the water, poop-scoop and inject my cat with insulin. All things considered, she is in and out in under 15 minutes a day, not including travel time. However, my cat tries to kill her."
Is that danger pay???
Things I have learned this week:
A friend of mine gave me some jam and told me it was Marionberry. I had never heard of such a berry so I went to The Google. It is a berry quite like a blackberry and is found in Marion County in Oregon....it is NOT a former mayor of a large U.S. city - Marion Barry - who recently died and was up on charges of drugs and crack smoking. The jam was great!!!
****
I talk to my animals WAY too much. I discovered this when the furnace repair guy was here and kept thinking I was talking TO HIM. So I kind of toned down the rhetoric a bit...
"For God's sake Hope!!! It's the dog!!!!!.....he has lived here for over five years!"
"Do you want to go out for a pee pee? Come on then, out you go...."
"Hope - SHUT UP!" What do you want??? I have fed you, your litter box is clean, you have milk....what? what????"
"Dan, no matter how much you stare I am not giving you my lunch. EEEWWW stop drooling on the floor!"
And some people wonder what I do all day.......
****
This morning at Starbucks, when the lady asked for my name, I told her ''Voldemort." When the guy called out the name for pick-up, he said, "VOL...uhhh...He Who Must Not Be Named."
You had to be there.......
No comments:
Post a Comment