A Brief Addition to the Last Post

There were a few pictures I didn't have enough time to include when I posted our last entry, so I thought I would take a few minutes to do so now.  Unfortunately, I was almost done (and yes I did save as I was going along) but all of a sudden, everything was gone and I am now starting over!

 My dear friend Diane sent me this cute picture.  She & Jim have those adorable Chihuahuas that were our house guests last week.  I could just picture her Lucy in this outfit trying to drive their car.  I looked everywhere trying to find a sweater and hat like this for her girls, but sadly to no avail.

 Here are our two sharing Willie's bed.  Yes, Millie uses her own bed, but they looked so cute cuddled up together that I had to take this picture. 

I believe I posted a picture of Millie's bed in front of the storage ottoman under the window, but we have made some more improvements that I think look really nice.  We removed the ugly, dirty window shade and replaced it with a room darkening curtain.  Then I decided to make a magnetic tieback so we could look out the window.  Willie liked that.  Then I decided to add a panel of sheer beige curtain to provide a little privacy while still allowing the kids to see outside.  As you can see, I have added a blue owl bell that is hanging above the dogs heads.  He is, as yet, un-named since we just got him yesterday. 

Another new addition to the owl collection is a lovely white owl that holds a tea light which can shine out through the cut-outs on the front.

He sits below the TV on a carpeted mantle, I didn't want to take any risk of fire, so we use a battery operated candle inside it.  I liked it so much I went back and got a second one that I took over to my sister Donna yesterday.  She was delighted with it!

There is something else that I should have shared the last time I posted, but I was not ready to talk about it yet, so here goes.  My brother Michael, in Elmira, lost his battle with cancer and went to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus early in the morning on November 4th.  Tony flew back in October and spent a week with Michael and our other brother Jeffrey and with Michael's son Douglas. 

 For those of you who don't know my brothers, Tony is on the left, Michael is in the middle and our baby brother Jeffrey is on the right.  Part of me will always regret that I didn't go back to see him one last time.  However, another part of me wanted to remember him as he was when we saw him in July 2015.  He was not sick and was enjoying his life then.

The picture on the left was taken on the back patio of Michael's home while we were there.
The one on the right was taken at the reunion.  He was enjoying life.  He loved to go line dancing at the VFW hall in Elmira Heights on Friday nights and he loved sailing his boat on Seneca Lake.  He took lessons and was learning to play the piano.  He even tried his hand at learning to play the bag pipes!!!  His former wife Judy has remained a true and devoted friend to him through all of this.  God bless her for being such an amazing person.


The take-away that I would like to share today is that we have to live with the decisions we make every day.  We are all so busy and all too often we put off for another day the things we should have done yesterday.  Michael died on a Sunday morning.  The night before that day, I had told Jim that I was going to call Michael on Sunday, but I never got that chance to talk to him once more.  I never got to say good bye or tell him one more time that I love him.  This is what I will have to live with.  If I can spare one of you this pain, it will be worth sharing this today.  Please don't put things off.  Even difficult things that you knew you should do.  None of us knows if we will get another day to do those things.  Call your parents, or your kids and tell them you love them.  Apologize to the person you have been feuding with for so long you can't even remember what the fight was all about.  Please don't put things off any longer.  You might regret it for a very long time.