My mother loved black cats. In England during the Second World War when food was rationed and so scarce that ration coupons were hoarded for the occasional holiday meal, she would save bits of her meager dinner to feed the many strays that roamed the wreckage of Liverpool. Occasionally she brought one or two home to her parents’ house near Strawberry Fields Orphanage. My Grandfather, contemptuous of cats, regarded them as simply another mouth or two to feed. Back to the stre

Yes, folks, it is absolutely true…I have gone to the dogs. My friends have suspected as much for quite some time, and now I simply must agree. Each Thursday and Friday I drive up the hill to the Center to go to the dogs. The drive itself is part of the pleasure. Living as I do on the river in the Village of Bellaire, I am surrounded by the world of civilized delights: the movie theatre, quaint stores, the charming white church on the hill above my house whose chimes summon th

Twins are special. Ask anyone who has twins in the family. You could ask my cousin Pam—she will tell you. Pam’s twins, a boy and a girl, were her first babies, born when Pam was not quite twenty. Their birth caused a ripple effect in our family. Older members were pressed into child minding and diaper washing. Younger members thought seriously about their own chances of giving birth to twins; the first ever in our family. The babies soon developed their own means of nonverbal

Today at age 69 and 8 months I experienced labor pains. I pushed and panted and napped between pains, I tried as hard as I could to take care of the two I had already given birth to, and finally, I pushed out a large kitten who was born breech. Wait a minute you say, you did what?? You gave birth to a kitten?? And then you came home and typed this?? What is going on here? Well, I am happy to report that today during my regular shift at Bellaire’s amazing With a Little Help Fr