Neala, Our Princess

We just got back from taking our dog, Neala, to a specialist vet. We had to leave her there for them to do a biopsy on her. 

About a month ago, she had stopped eating her food, and at first we thought she was just being picky, but a week later when she wouldn't even eat the scraps that we gave her, we knew something was wrong. After we took her to our vet, and he gave her some medicine, she got worse and didn't eat a single thing. A second visit to the vet today confirmed that she had some sort of growth in her throat and so this very same day we took her to a specialty vet. My parents got a call about an hour after leaving her there and what the vet said wasn't good. The thing in her throat is most likely cancerous and it seems to not only be in her throat but throughout her whole body. Her kidneys are shutting down so that her calcium levels are so high their measuring tools at the clinic can't even read it. The treatment for this would be very expensive, and since my dad will be losing his job next year, we most likely will only be able to afford to put her to sleep. Even if we do let her live out the time she has left, with medication, she will only live for about 4 - 6 weeks. 

Quite some years ago, on Christmas Eve, my family came home to find our cat, Rosie, dying underneath a chair, later that night, my dad threw her body away in the garbage can. That memory was so sad and tragic for me that it will forever be seared into my mind. It would be too much to have to watch our dog die before our eyes also, so putting her to sleep is probably the best thing for her and for us. In this last week I have watched her grow weaker, becoming listless and when I looked into her eyes, I saw suffering. We would be cruel to make her live longer in her misery just because we want her to be with us. Now that I know we will lose her, I look back and see how perfect of a dog she was. She is so smart, most of the time too much for her own good. She became almost like a sergeant mother to our three cats, nipping at them if they were up to no good. Neala is the most well behaved dog we have ever owned, but since I can only remember as far back as our last dog, Jenny the Devil Dog, as we nicknamed her, I don't have much to compare her to. But I know she will forever be our princess.

From My Notebook: The Foundations of this Government

                Freedom is not a right; it is a gift, one that most Americans take for granted as much as they do life. Free speech is not a right; it is merely a result of a healthy government who has set its foundations in God. But what happens if the foundation, the very cornerstone of that government becomes rejected? What happens when our leaders begin to chisel away those little things they don’t like, thinking the foundation is strong enough to endure a few “adjustments,” but they only find more things to get rid of. Americans should not be surprised, when they look back, to find that many of the gifts that they call rights are ever so slowly fading away, so slowly you hardly notice the changes until it is too late. All because some people decided it was too offensive to pray in school, that the greeting “merry Christmas” should be replaced with “happy holidays.” As America slowly becomes an atheistic or “all Inclusive” country, do not be surprised that our government is starting to crumble, for the foundation of it is being taken away, and how can something stand without it’s foundations?

From My Notebook: Passing Away

Faint echoing cries, lonely goodbyes.

Shining tears that are shed, the heart that mourns has bled.

Hope is gone with what which is dead, lying lifeless on the hard cold bed.

But blossoms still bloom, hope will awaken soon.

In the heart of one’s soul, love will have taken its toll.

"Holiday Trees"

I know that the traditional thing to do on your blog is to write your own blog posts, but I just wanted to share this email with you, (which I actually got off of Facebook) because I felt it had a strong message that everyone should hear, and if you agree with what this man wrote then please pass it on through whatever social networking thing you do.

Apparently the White House referred to Christmas Trees as “Holiday Trees” for the first time this year which prompted CBS presenter, Ben Stein, to present this piece which I would like to share with you. I think it applies just as much to many countries as it does to America . . .

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.


My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejewelled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, “Merry Christmas” to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a crib, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her: “How could God let something like this happen?” (regarding Hurricane Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said: “I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?”

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbour as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.

If not, then just discard it.... no one will know you did. But if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein