In the blink of an eye...

... life as you know it can change.  And just within this month, I've seen it happen not once, but twice, to two different families.  Two very different medical situations, but with similar results: life as it once was no longer exists. Everything has changed and forever will be different.  And usually, the biggest changes are for the caregivers, not the patients... for the simple reason that the patient's life is being overtaken by the whims of the body and the caregiver's life is no longer within their own realm of control.

I post a lot of petty complaints in this blog, and as I type them, I'm fully aware that these little hiccups of daily life are nothing but a raindrop in a bucket in comparison to what family and friends are dealing with on any given day. Not to mention what's being reported on CNN or The O'Reilly Factor every evening.  I've tried to keep this blog devoid of political, economic, and governmental issues. I do certainly know what's going on outside of this country bubble every day but I don't want to write about it and give my opinions because nothing ever seems to change. I am probably one of the most apolitical people on the planet. "Nothing ever changes but the nameplate on the desk in the Oval Office."  I read that line in a news magazine years and years ago and I still believe every word of that sentence.

So on this day, as I sit here and think of what has happened with good friends right here in Texas, and what is now happening with family up in New York... I can honestly say that the worst thing that happened to me this month was the return of that blasted orange cat.

And as I type this, that orange cat is sitting out on the porch, meowing pitifully because the bowl of cat food is probably only half-filled. And just like Gatsby, that orange cat prefers to eat from a full bowl of Meow Mix.

In my list of things to be thankful and grateful for on this day, good health is right up there on the list, along with the ability to get myself out of this chair and walk out on the porch and fill a cat's bowl up to the rim with fresh food.

Some people aren't able to get themselves up and out of a chair and walk to the porch, much less put thought processes together to fill up a bowl with cat food.

So my wish for you all today.... when life is good, count your blessings. And when life isn't so good, count your blessings anyway because things could always be worse.