STORYTIME TAPESTRY

The Newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world

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Oct 15, 2005

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Today??™s Announcements:

Congratulations to Jodi Flesberg Lilly who has just become our newest senior writer.?  Be sure to check out Jodi??™s writing forum at Ryze and her website. Jodi is a professional astrologer as well as a free lance writer.

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Now on to the good stuff..........

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Animal awareness series endorsed by Shiloh and Hank our mascots; all stories must receive their approval.

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Inoculated Again

Sharlett Hunt

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?  Right around the same time flu shots happens for humans and I realize I must go receive that small preventative against one of Nature's most common ailments, the flu,?  it becomes pertinent for me to take my precious cat, Precious, to the trusty SPCA for her inoculations for common maladies?  that affect felines, such as distemper and rabies.?  Today was her day.

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?  A friend arrived, on time, this morning, while I got my darling kitten ready for her day and the shots that can very well save her life.?  She went semi-willingly into her carrier, which I had purchased second hand for her to be transported.?  It isn't as if she is vicious.?  Heaven's no.?  To the contrary.?  She is the most amiable cat most have ever been around and so loving.? 

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?  Precious is a Hemingway, which is a polydactyl, which simply means that she is endowed with a few more claws that a regular cat.?  She has nine little claws on her front paws.?  On the back, she has seven.?  I already knew she was special from the moment she was brought to me.?  She is a Calico Tortoise Shell in color, I found out today.?  I could tell them a few things about Precious.

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?  I didn't want a cat when a friend of mine, I will name call a good friend , NY Times best seller Jean Auel's son, Marshall and his wife, Beverly. brought her here a little over a year ago.?  They are very good friends of mine.?  I was going through a lot of emotions at the time and also trying to remodel my little trailer, if I remember correctly.? 

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?  I had a mess, papers and just stuff was stewed all over the place.?  I was thinking to myself, "What on earth can they be thinking, bringing me this cat?"?  My health was extremely bad at the time and as I tried to tend to the cat, which they had decided to call, Precious, I was at my wits end.?  I would spend some time in bed and try to get up and care for this kitten that so deserved so much more than me.?  I need to mention that Sweetie was also with me.?  My little parakeet is so special.? 

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? ? He never wavered, though Precious tried to instinctively kill him time after time.?  His cage hangs from the ceiling and he is more special than ever when he sings his "good morning" to me song.? They have finally learned the respect that comes from the "law" of being a? beloved pet.? 

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?  Sometimes I would go to bed and lock my bedroom door and just cry.?  I tried to contact Bev and Marshall, to no avail, and this cat was getting the very best of me.?  I was nauseated a lot and tried daily to get around one little precious cat to make it to a much needed toilet so I could relieve the nausea.?  Life also was happening during all this and I wondered what on earth I was doing trying to take care of not only me but a little helpless cat as well.?  I came out and got on the computer sometimes and she would look as if I needed someone, and slowly, gently, climb onto my lap.?  I got over it.

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?  The love of a little cat is never ending.?  Once you have that special bond, it never leaves.?  She and? I have been through hurricanes together.? I accuse her of being selfish at times but I always have to look at myself.?  ? She is extremely vocal.?  She doesn't always get her way.?  If a door is closed it drives her crazy and me, also, when she sits by it and meows until I want to call my therapist.?  She knows words.?  Shut up is a common demand.?  She doesn't like it a lot but does when she sees I am extremely agitated.?  I get the water spray bottle, she shuts up.?  I enjoy her personality.

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?  She wants love any and every time I am willing to give it.?  I don't know of too many people like that.?  My neighbors think she is so funny because she follows me to the mailbox or anywhere else I walk here in the trailer park so I must be careful where I go with her but she is?  so faithful and goes each step with me.? 

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?  Today was a special day for her.?  She received he second shots since I have had her.? We are chilling out.?  She took it? much better than I expected.?  Cat as usual.?  ? She loves? Meow Mix packets, Ya'll, should see her, does the commercial,? I first of all, get teed that she is so spoiled and demanding but then, consider the source, and Smile when she stands there and says, "Meow, meow." And sometimes we sing.? 

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?  She brings me presents, once a harmless snake was lying in my yard, deceased.?  Another time, a huge rat.?  They say that the polydactyl cat is a hunter.?  I suppose I would have to agree because yesterday she brought me?  a Gecko, hopefully that insurance salesman from Geiko.?  He was lying on my patio in a puddle of ants.?  Looked liked a lizard...................

Sharlette863 @aol.com

About Me:
I was born in Alabama, the middle of seven children. At about age four we moved to Central Florida and I have lived here most of my life. I am a Viet Nam Era Veteran. I have always enjoyed writing and as I get older it seems to come more naturally to me. I believe everyone has many stories inside them and some are blessed to be able to share them.? 

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Today's Queue Stories
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Laughter and Love

Jodi Flesberg Lilly

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Laughter and love will change the world. The music of laughter opens hearts and minds to the abundance of joy always present within us.

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Laughter reminds me of my father. He loved to tell a funny story and had a million of them. On the last visit to my family while my father was still very much alive, and showed no indication he'd suffer a fatal heart attack less than 8 months later, we gathered on the deck of the house where we'd moved when I was 5. My three younger brothers and I grew up there. I moved out, and several states away, in 1973 when I graduated from high school. The night I arrived was the first time in almost 20 years all 6 of us were? 'home' at the same time. My nephew and my sister-in-law to be, the? next generation? of? Flesberg, were there, too.

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Under the stars, in the soft? moonlight of that warm late summer? Wisconsin night,? we found our connection with one another again? by telling jokes and funny stories about our life now or when we were kids. We laughed until our faces ached and tears ran down our cheeks as one story would prompt the next and we were all marveling at what a good sense of humor the others had and wondering if humor is hereditary. Coming together again with laughter reunited our hearts and reminded us we are kindred in spirit as well as by blood.

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My dad had an amazing memory and his stories were often long and complex, sprinkled liberally? with humor. As we discussed our shared love of laughter and an amusing tale, my brother, Mark, mentioned that often by the time Dad got to the end of one of his stories he'd be so engrossed he'd forget what it was about in the first place.? We all laughed in agreement and my dad just shook his head and smiled wondering why none of us had inherited his gift.? 

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Later, when my dad was in the middle of one of his tales, Mark said, ???See, it??™s happening again, I forgot what this was about in the first place!??? which, of course, made us all laugh even harder.

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Laughter reunited my family by taking us directly into our hearts where our love for one another came dancing out. My family was richly? blessed by our laughter that night and my whole world was changed. This is one of my most treasured memories.

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Jodi

http://www.lightinmotion.net? 

?© 2005 Jodi Flesberg Lilly

lightinmotion@yahoo.com

Jodi Flesberg Lilly is a writer and intuitive astrologer living in San Ramon, CA.?  She founded and leads the Creative Writers Network at www.Ryze.com (an online business networking site), as well as offering intuitive astrology readings, leading workshops, and teaching classes in spiritual and personal awareness.?  To subscribe to her monthly Light In Motion, intuitive astrology newsletter please send an email to info@lightinmotion.net and write "subscribe" in the subject line.

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~**~**~? 

Ten Years
by D.A. Arthur

My gosh, has it been ten years already?
Ten years since the school play, where I dressed up as a bag lady? Pushing a rusty shopping cart and singing in front of hordes of people? In a sense, the bag lady incident served as a fitting metaphor for my entire high school experience. Involved, but not involved. Respected but still not liked.
Ten years since I didn't go to the senior prom?
Ten years since I was too shy to talk to anyone in class?
Ten years since people cheated off of my test papers?
Ten years since I was teased and tormented?
Ten years since, with an enormous sigh of relief, I walked across the stage, wearing my cap and gown, and received my diploma?

Yes, ten years has passed.
Ten years is a lot of time. And a lot has changed.

The head cheerleader, the girl whose figure everyone envied, got fat. The girl who was pregnant when we left high school is pregnant again. The girl whose hair color changed with her mood is now a shrink. The quarterback of the football team is now a minister. The valedictorian is a professional student.

And that girl who sat in the corner?

I became an author.

When the reunion was announced this past February, I went back and forth on this issue. Should I go or should I not? Should I reconnect with those people from my past, or should I let bygones be bygones? After all, I only kept vaguely in touch with about three people. Why should I torture myself?

But I'm an author now, I told myself. I'm not that shy girl in the corner anymore.

The memories would be too painful, I said.

"I read about your book in the paper," Natalie Vicks -- a former cheerleader -- said. "And I've been wanting to read it."

"Well, I've got copies over here."

"You know what, I kind of figured you would be involved in some creative endeavor." That one was a head scratcher.

The DJ put on some line-dancing music and most of the class broke out into a lively line dance. For that one moment, all the previous lines of demarcation -- race, clique, walk of life -- were gone. But once the dance was over, everyone went back to the way they were.

The quote of the evening came from Jennifer Avery, one of the superthin popular girls, who said, "Well, at least somebody from our class made it."

Ten years, indeed. I wonder what the next ten will hold.

Copyright July 24, 2005 by D.A. Arthur

D.A. Arthur is a freelance writer (sounds more professional don't you think LOL) living in Louisiana. She is the author of the novel "The Maverick Princess" which was published in 2004 and can be found at any online bookstore. Find out more about her at the following locations: http://www.daarthur.us (the official site); http://www.publishedauthors.net/daarthur (auxiliary site), and http://www.ryze.com/go/DAArthur

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Where will I go with my writing?

Saskia Nienna Streidel

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I am thinking, dreaming, hoping. I am wondering what I will be, where I will go, what I will do.

What do I want to do with my writing? What?  do I want to change? Do I want to change? Or do I just want to live through and with my writing.

Where is the place I want to go with my words and my writing.

I write, because writing helps me to understand myself. Writing helps me to clear my own feeling and thoughts. And it shows me where I want to go.

Also I write, because it is like medicine. If I spit the anger out like black blood on white paper, I feel better. With every poem I have the chance to break free. No matter what happened first, if I write a poem, I break free. Or I can do, if I wish.

What else is writing for me?

Writing is also the chance for me to create my own worlds. This is why I wrote as a kid. I created my own worlds, where I wanted to go for a while. I wanted to visit Greenland? Alright, I just had to take a pen and a piece of paper. Greenland, here I am!

I wanted to fly like an eagle. All I needed was a pen and a piece of paper, and I just felt my arms turning to wings and my wise old eagle eye watched the earth far down under me and I cried for the poor souls which felt lost and I prayed that my tears would help a new world to grow.

And, after all, writing was also a way to show myself and everybody else, that I am real, that I am made of blood and bones and that I breath and smile and cry like every other human. My writing was the proof that I was here, with all of you, and that I was watching you, joining you, listen to you.

It is a proof of life. It is writing me down on the skin of the earth and writing me down in and for time.

My name is Saskia Steidel, I am born the? 17.10.1981 in Germany. I live in a small?  village in the middle of the woods and love to write. Right now I study learn therapy and music therapy and I just quit my job as a ticket manager in the administration of an soccer club, to have more time to study and to write and to work as a Nanny, what I really love. So far I published poems and some other pieces in different books and published one book called "Am Ende der Nebel". Right now I am writing on a children??™s book.

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Writers Feedback

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Debra's description of the smells, sights and sounds of the hospital brought tears to my eyes.?  I'm hopeful that her son Chris did well with the operation, and I pray that he won't have to face many more procedures.?  What a brave child.?  What a brave mother.?  --Sherri

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How Can I not React? ??“ Carol - Carol, I don't begin to know who this man is but you do not need to listen to him.?  This wonderful site you have offered us a voice in is just that--a place where writers can be themselves, let people see what is making us happy or sad, allowing us to share our life with others so they can cheer us on, pray for us, or learn from our mistakes in life.

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Shame on anyone who is so insecure!

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Barb

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Prayer Requests and Updates

I'd love you to include this on your prayer requests:

A very close friend of mine has cancer that has spread
to his stomach walls. Doctors say it is inoperable and
that the chemotherapy has failed. Ross Kalenderidis is
a lovely, generous soul, an extremely talented artist,
heir of Socrates, funny, eccentric and a very proud
parent. For those who have prayers or healing energy
to spare, I'd appreciate Ross being included on your
lists.

Hugs and thanks,

DC

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? SENIOR WRITERS

Chief Writer: Sharon Bryant

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? Agee, Vance;? Apted, Violet;? Baker, Kathy; Batt, Al;?  Berry, Nell;

Boda, Ginger;? ? Buhagiar, Victor; Cassady, B.J.;?  Cavalera, Robyn; Crider, Mark;? 

Deming, Barb; Doherty, Maria; Goodier, Steve; Halley, Ellie Braun;

Harris, Kathy Anne;? Hunt, Sharlette;?  Jacobson, Gary;? Kiser, Roger Dean;

Kerens, Claudia; Jenkins, Pamela; Liles, Norma; lilly, Jodi Flesberg; Lock, Joyce; Mazzella, Joe;? 

Ojeigbe, Georgewaters;

?  Petry, Dianna Doles; Roberts, Susan;?  Shiveley, Debra; Shaw, Bob; Sims, Richard; Streidel, Saskia; Swarner, Ken; Vaknin, Sam; Verhoeff, Jan

Walker, Bill; Walker, Joe;? Warner, Gorden K; Walsh, Sue

Whirity, Kathy;? White, Robert;

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STORYTIME TAPESTRY STAFF

Publisher: Carol Roach-founder

Moderator: Thelma Hartselle-co founder

Moderator: Clara Westerfer

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