My grandmother, Isabel, passed away this afternoon. She was the kindest, sweetest, most compassionate human being I've ever met. She was kind, had a wonderful sense of humor, and loved children. A part of me goes with her.

Please keep her in your prayers. God bless.

Prayer of Commendation

"Go forth, Christian soul, from this world
in the name of God the almighty Father,
who created you,
in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God,
who suffered for you,
in the name of the Holy Spirit,
who was poured out upon you.
Go forth, faithful Christian!
May you live in peace this day,
may your home be with God in Zion,
with Mary, the virgin Mother of God,
with Joseph, and all the angels and saints. . . .

May you return to [your Creator]
who formed you from the dust of the earth.
May holy Mary, the angels, and all the saints
come to meet you as you go forth from this life. . . .
May you see your Redeemer face to face."

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4-1-09

I would like to extend to all of you profound thanks for your prayers and well-wishes. This has been incredibly difficult for me and for those of us who loved her, as some of you might already know. My grandmother will be laid to rest this coming April 3rd right next to my grandfather.

I want to also say that I'm acutely aware of the fact that she lived a long life - she was 20 days shy of her ninetieth birthday when she passed away. Many people who are considered to have lived a long life don't necessarily live as long as she did. I'm also cognizant of the fact that human beings who might - at most - be half my age have entered the hospital in which she passed away and never came out. Her passing, thank God, was not a violent one, although someone like me, who loved her dearly, will always consider her departure premature, regardless of her late age. Yes, I have a lot to be thankful for, but the pain of losing someone like her swells in me sporadically throughtout the day. I think those of you who have had your hearts broken by a loss of this type (and I know that there are A LOT of you) can relate to what I'm going through.

Again, thank you for everything. God bless you.

I spent the afternoon and the evening hours with my grandmother till about 11 p.m. today. She seemed a little better than yesterday, but she is far from being out of the woods. Here's the situation: her blood pressure keeps dropping and they are giving her medications to try to elevate it. Because she has atrial fibrillation, her heart rate is erratic and sometimes elevated beyond the normal beats per minutes. Today they gave her a medication to regulate her heart rate but part of the side-effects of that particular medication is to lower the blood pressure, something we definitely do not want. The nurses told me that they will not give her that same medication again. They also did an echo-cardiogram and the technician showed my mom the problems the echo-cardiogram machine could detect in her heart (I stepped out of the room simply because I didn't want to hear it).

I'm trying to pull myself together because the severity of what is happening is hitting me for the first time tonight. I'm definitely not ready to say goodbye just yet.

Please continue to keep her in your prayers. Thank you and God bless.

Grandmother

I know I've been away for quite some time. I've been busy with school, work, and other affairs that demanded my attention. I hope all of you and your families are having a peaceful Lent.

This past Sunday I had a terrible experience. My grandmother had a heart-attack and was rushed by ambulance to the hospital. For a moment there it was thought that she would not make it. However, she was stabilized and they've kept her in ICU for the past three days. Yesterday the doctors and nurses were talking about releasing her on Wednesday, but this morning she took a slight turn for the worst. Her blood pressure dropped significantly, so they had to give her more medications to stabilize her. She appears disoriented and tells the nurses that administer to her that she wants to go home. I know she is elderly and that I should be glad for having her as long as I did. But when we love someone, there is no such thing as having them for just the right amount of time.

Truth be told, I've been dreading the day a lose her for the longest time now. I've wondered how and when it will come despite obvious answers and admonitions not to do so. A few years ago when she had a cardiac incident and was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, I prayed for a few more years with her and it appears those prayers were answered. Now, selfishly I pray again for just a little more time.

Please keep my grandmother, Isabel, in your prayers. Thank you and God bless all of you.

Yummy, Yummy, Yummy I Got Love in My Tummy!

This is a post that should have been published over two weeks ago. Unfortunately, my mom acquired the cold from which I had been suffering and ultimately developed pneumonia. Subsequently, my focus turned to her.

Toby received some treats this past Valentine's Day from dear Auntie A (Adrienne's Catholic Corner) and her lovely little four-legged kiddies Elle, Sophie, Angela, and Erica. This was Toby's first Valentine's and also the first time he had anything other than the prescribed food our vet assigned to him. Let me tell you that he was gobbling this stuff up! You should have seen the size of his eyes as he tried his yummies for the first time and saw me holding a second batch in my hands (mental note: wear armour gloves when feeding this little monster by hand). Such a short time on earth so far and this puny-one has found a slice of heaven.

Here are some pics of Toby next to his treats before first trying them. As you can see, the little mischief-maker is anxious to get inside the packages and start chomping. I should make all of you aware that when taking these pics, I had to place Toby on a chair to have more control over what the little puff of smoke was doing. He is simply IMPOSSIBLE to photograph.

So yes, this was Toby this past Valentine's, getting stuff from girls while his master stood dateless in Las Vegas. LOL!

So a big thank you to Auntie A and her critters for making Toby's first Valentine's Day one to remember. BTW, here is Toby's favorite song:

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Political Correctness

A few years ago, I remember a group that called themselves the American Indian Movement, protested the use of Indian caricatures of such sports teams as the Cleveland Indians, the Atlanta Braves, the Chicago Blackhawks and the Washington Redskins. In light of the politically correct society that we live in today, who could blame them? Today we have to be very careful with our choice of words when making public addresses in the public square. One miscalculation - as has happened to countless numbers of politicians and celebrities - and you might acquire publicity that you might liken to the plague. I think this whole politically correct vernacular may have started when one group demanded a certain type of choice words when being referenced, and another group decided they too had as much right to the same sensitivities as the other group. Just speculation, of coarse. Eventually, the whole P.C. movement gained momentum, and different caucuses were ready to introduce into society what words were off-limits when referencing their respective groups.

Anyway, this is a video that shows a group of redheads (what is the P.C. term fro "redheads?") protesting the Wendy's logo. To them, the Wendy's icon misrepresents the physical appearances of most redheads by putting pony tails and freckles on the Wendy's girl.

What do you think? Are these folks just simply taking things too far, or is their beef with Wendy's legit? If it had been the image of a minority, would the same protests not have occurred? Would Wendy's have even placed the image of a minority as its logo?

Pause music player to avoid cacophony.