Give The Gift of Hope

After the mass killings last week, I had so much to say, so much feeling, that I had intended to write it all down but honestly, there are much better writers out there than me, and I doubt I could say saything that has not already been said so many times. I also think the sooner we stop paying attention to this as a nation the sooner these poor families can begin the long road down recovery from grief.

Having said that, I would like to offer a little different approach. Each Christmas I make it a point to "nag" all of you to take a minute to look at this wonderful site and this year, hopefully our hearts are feeling particularly generous.

It is The Hunger Site. This is a unique organization that allows you to give, over the course of time, large amounts of charity to those in need without costing you a dime, simply less than a minute of your time each day, a little bit at a time.

Organizations like World Wildlife Fund, Novica, ASPCA, booksfirst.org, and many more are all involved in this one site, which is set up to make it easy for all of us. I will probably over explain this (as I am known to do) but it really is quite simple.

If you sign up, no cost, no email selling, they send you a reminder email daily, with a link, to their site.  The link takes you to the main site where you see a button that says "click to give food". Immediately after you click you are taken to the sponsor page which is a simple page with a list of sponsors on it. If you choose to ignore it fine, if not and you buy something from the sponsors your donation is doubled, tripled, or whatever they donate. Then you go to the top of the page and you will see tabs for sites including hunger, breast cancer, animals, veterans, autism, child health, literacy and rainforest. You then click a tab and go through the same process. Personally, I can click each tab, hit the donate button and get through all of them in less than one minute. After you click they tell you at the top what your click gave. Today I gave 1.1 cups of food to the hungry, helped a woman pay for a momogram, fed one animal and one veteran a meal, gave a few minutes of therapy to an autistic child, helpd buy a child a book and saved 11 square feet of rainforest.

Here is the catch; there is none. You click and at the end of each month the sponsors see how many clicks there were and pay the site per click so the more people do this the more is given. (you can only click once a day so you don't have to feel bad for not doing this multiple times) If you buy from their store or a sponor it can be a lot more but you don't have to do a thing but click to give.

Now one cup of food doesn't seem like a lot, but I do this ever day so that is 365 cups of food I have given this year for doing basically nothing, and if you multiply that by the several people I have convinced this year to do the same, the next thing you know there is  a village of children with food I their bellies each day, or several women being screened for breast cancer, or even several acres of rainforest that is now protected. And it takes less than a minute a day. Oh and each tabbed site has petitions you can sign, anonomously, to further a cause.

I was skeptical when I saw this so I did a boatload of research on the company and the places the money goes to and found that not only is this site ranked on of the best charities in the US, but 100% of the donated funds from the sponsors goes to charity...all of it. Then I looked into the charities and found they are the best and the most efficient around. If you want more info just dig around the site, there are vertical tabs with all the info you need but you can believe me this is a heck of a way to give something daily with minimal effort and no cost to you.

So this Christmas, give the world a gift. Sign up here to be added to the reminder list and take 60 seconds a day to click click click to givebooks, food, education, medicine shelter to animals, children, women and veterans...just give.

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and Namaste to everyone, our beliefs vary, but we all have the same goal; peace, love and happiness for all.

Death Hits Home

When my cat Chloe was small I bought her a pet...another kitten. I named him Merlin and he was an adorable little gray fuzzball. They grew up together, good friends, playing at night and snuggling on occasion during the day.
I left my home in Charlotte and Merlin had become so attached to my best friend Tom that I left Merlin with him. I did not think either would be happy without each other.
Over the years Tom and I have kept in touch, always keeping each other updated on both Merlin and Chloe. I have been lucky, Chloe has been healthy but over the last few years Merlin's health had begun to decline.
Last night I checked my email and Tom had written me that he had to put Merlin down, he was suffering too much and it was not fair to keep him alive just to save him the pain of losing him.
I try to write something about all my friend's pets that pass since I love animals probably more than poeple so I know how deeply this can hurt, but now it has hit home for me in a way. Though I did not see him for the last almost decade of his life, I never let go of Merlin in my heart and still keep pictures of him.

Merlin was a character, constant struggling with his weight, as neutered males that stay indoors will, but he was also an inherently lazy cat, we sometimes called him Garfield. I remember one time I found him laying down next to his food dish, reaching his arm into the bowl and scooping the food out and to his mouth. The decadence of the Roman Empire immediately came to mind. After that Tom spend years engineering food dishes that would keep him from over eating while he was gone but each one Merlin found a way to break into.
He was also a very affectionate cat. People don't think of cats as affectionate but he was. He always wanted to be on a lap on  a close by chair, he loved sleeping in the bed with Tom and his only real interest in the outdoors was an occasion smell and a tentative paw, followed by a daring 3 or 4 feet into the great wilderness, then back inside to safety.
I am glad Merlin is gone in a way, I will miss him but the thought of him suffering would be too much to handle and I know Tom, you did the right thing. You gave him the best life a cat could have and more medical care than most anyone else would have. (He practically had a vet hospital in his home) I know he was your friend, your companion and the only "person" you truly could trust and count on 100%. My sadness for you is so big I cannot find the words to describe it, only the constant tears could speak for me. I want to to make it all go away but all I can do is let you know that you have more people who are real friends, and more friends who love you that I think you know. Reach out a little, just for now. It will help you and make then feel better. It aways feels good to help someone.
Maybe some day you will get another cat, though I doubt it will be any time soon, but once you have had one its almost impossible not to get another at some point. They become a living presence in your home and everything feels empty without one, especially now that "Monkey" is gone.
I was hoping to be more eloquent but truth be told I have not slept since yesterday morning. When I got the news I cried for a long time and was awake all night after that so I am not at my literary best. But the bottom line is you are loved, you are cared about and your friends will come to you if you let them in and call or write me, I am here.
A big warm hug to you and one last one to Merlin. I love you Monkey and we will never forget you.