To Kurt

[Guest guest]

Hi Kurt,

I really enjoyed reading about your experiences with the

seashells. I am saddened though about the lack of response

you are receiving about your collection. I am wondering if a

children's hospital or a Mc type house would be

interested in them as a display for children - as a calming effect

that could complement the fish motif that they often use in

waiting areas or lounges. I am trying to think of other

non-traditional places that you could contact.

I hear about things like that occuring after a elderly person

passes on..... a loving collection that defined his or her life being

discarded in the trash (literally). My husband ended up with

hundreds of old stamps (from WWII, original disney characters,

etc) that this gentleman had collected since he was a boy. He

threw them all out because none of his kids or grandkids were

interested in them and he was " decluttering " . The way that these

have been lovingly placed in his notebooks are touching and I

can't go through them without getting melancholy.

I know that is what will happen with our rocks and our farm. I

want to put the land into a trust but there is no organization that I

" trust " to keep it in the state that we wish it to be. I know that it will

just be plowed under, the trees cut down and paved over to

make way for strip malls and aparments / condos.....things that I

abhor. But the good part is that when it gets to that point, I won't

be here to care anymore I guess. It is just that I get so

emotionally attached to my trees and shrubs and other plants

that I hate to think of them ruthlessly chopped down or uprooted.

I go talk to them, I haul water to them when I am near fainting, I

encourage them to not give up.........and the wham....the bulldozer

and treecutter is drawing nigh.........

I haven't caught up with all of your events yet but I will head over

to the stories page when I have a few moments. All I can say is

that I am happy that you are home and I hope that you are

recovering well from your ordeal. I am glad that you understood

the spirit of my post of 8/11...that I was not advocating the

ultimate decision....just that I have learned that there is a point

where that is an option and I have learned what it is for me. I am

sorry that you endured a horrific time too in the hospital and I

wish there was a way to eliminate needless and senseless

suffering. It is one thing when it is an inevitable part of the

illness....but quite another when it is solely due to ignorance or

laziness or because it is " incovenient " to attend to it.

The nile virus tragedy to the birds is also demoralizing and adds

to my sadness of the day and the times. We too, have had a

loss of birds and I find it hard to reconcile with any type of joy I

find in nature. But I try to rationalize it as it all being part of the

brutality of nature - whether it is the cat that eats the bird, the fox

that grabs the bunny, the hawk that snatched a mouse from right

in front of my feet...........It brings tears to my eyes but it is a cycle

of life and death. I guess that I why I am not so adamant at

staying alive at all costs......why put off the inevitable? Not that I

want to hasten the inevitable but when it is clearly knocking at the

door.........what does it matter if it is today or tomorrow?

On that note....I want to turn to the corner and offer some

cheer....please get well soon and thanks for offering your

memories. I am happy to have helped you with your reading of

surgical options and I am glad to learn that it helped you with any

decisions that you had to make.

Laurie