That husband of mine…

Wanted to go Retromania…his lovely wife not so much…pooh poohed it to be honest…the entrance fee a little pricy…not sure it was worth it…

But went anyway…browsed the vendors…Hot Wheels…Care Bears…comic books…Cabbage Patch…Gremlins…G.I. Joes…

And then there were the action figures…never seen so many action figures…action figures here…action figures there…action figures everywhere…seemed ridiculous almost…

Until what to our wondering eyes do we see?…tubs, tubs, and more tubs…tubs full of action figures…WWE action figures…and one of us was suddenly…in action figure Heaven…

Pulled them out…called them by name…made their little plastics bodies body slam…clothesline…leap off the edge in a tackle…

And it was fun…gloriously fun…spent the rest of the day reliving wrestling memories…simpler days…days when a 15 year old boy could hang out after a match with his favorite heroes from the ring…

Where they laughed…and talked…and made a young man feel like he could be anything in the world he wanted to be…

And so it is…in life…sometimes you get your money’s worth…and sometimes in the case of Retromania and tubs full of plastic memories…you get much more…
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And El Gato Negro…agrees…

This old gal…

Was feeling a little down…decided to go for a walk…pump up the endorphins a bit…

Just happened to walk in the direction of a vintage shop…just happened to walk down its street…just happened to decide to stop by and browse…

Started in the outbuildings, rustic sheds full of unique treasures, and within minutes, that proverbial dark cloud began to lift…

Those colors…the creativity…the staging of the displays…the artistry…the craftsmanship…the lion mural on the concrete floor…

It worked…drew you in…was magical…

Went inside the shop and what to my wondering eyes should I see sitting behind the checkout counter?…a beauty…young…vibrant…quirky…

Bright orange kaftan…round hippie glasses…greeting shopping me as she came through the door…

Beauty was delightful and chatty so we chatted delightfully…she’s a free bird…lives off the grid…an artist who painted the mural on that floor in the shed…

Talked about Iowa, home towns, being thankful for what we have, family, life choices, and the coincidence that her last name is the same as those ancestors of mine…

Beauty had the knack, complimented an old gal’s bandana…told her she looked younger than her age…enthusiastically agreed that Natural Life products were indeed the bombdiggity…

And so it is…in life…some people just have it…the spark…the flair…the magic…they can make anything beautiful and anyone FEEL beautiful…

It’s a gift, a spectacular gift, that shopper me, who left that place with a smile on her face, was so blessed…to receive…
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And If you’ve ever met a Beauty, you’d agree…

A friend of mine…

Made a comment…said the clock was ticking, so she’s going to take a trip…a fun trip…a fun exciting trip with those beautiful daughters of hers..

Prickly phrase that, the clock is ticking…because it is…faster today than yesterday…than last week…last month…last year…

The time ahead much less than that behind…an old gal finds herself looking back…basking in the memories…marveling at the journey…

And pondering…wondering…if she could go back and do it again, would she?…and if she did, what would she change?…

Would she attend grad school in Texas to study opera as encouraged by her vocal instructor?…date the actuary?…say yes to the proposals?…marry her dear friend?…take a teaching job in a different town?…

So many different paths…so many unknown endings…but the choices young me made…not always the best…not always without pain…took her down a path that gave her the one thing she would never give up…

Those daughters of hers…

THEY are her happy ending…because of them she knows the choices were right…because of them she knows she’s where she’s supposed to be…because of them…she wouldn’t change a thing…
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And those daughters of mine…agree…

This husband of mine said…

“Someone’s out there trying to wake you up”…and someone was…out there on the porch…could hear Top Dog knocking…but it was early…too early for a kitty cat breakfast…

1:30 am…had only been asleep a few hours…rolled over and shut the eyes when one of us sighed…sighed loudly…

He couldn’t sleep…had been lying there two hours listening to that knocking cat knock…and so the chatting began…side by side…staring at the ceiling in the dark…

Talked about this…talked about that…allergies, ailments, aging health…the Seven Dwarfs, WWE wrestlers, YouTube videos he’s watched about the chupacabra…

And then came the question…the middle of the night I’m too tired to think about this question…

“Do you wish you were younger?” he asked…

Had to pause…had to think…but not long because the answer was clear…HER answer was clear…

She wishes she could walk farther…see better…get up off the floor easier…but be younger?…doing younger things again?…no, not at all…

Because what would she change?…she loves her past…the job she chose…the kids she taught…the adventures she’s had along the way…

She loves her people…friends…family…those daughters of hers who have always been her besties…

She loves this life…the life she has now…

She loves knowing what she knows and doing what she does…

She loves aging gracefully, or humorously, or humorously gracefully…

And she loves her sidekick who took her forever to find…who taught her to love cats…who laughs with her…cries with her…who wakes her in the middle of the night for nothing more than in-depth conversations about absolutely nothing…

This is the good life…an old gal’s good life…can’t imagine having it any other way…
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And this husband of mine…agrees…

This husband and I…

Often hear a thump coming from the porch…a loud thump…sometimes two thumps in a row…like something heavy jumping and landing hard…

Open the door and what to our wondering eyes do we see?…Top Dog…Top Dog sitting quietly directly in front of the door…

Always quite baffling…like where is he jumping from to make such loud thuds?…the railing?…not high enough…the roof?…nahhh, too far up…and why two thuds in a row at times?…is he jumping off and then on and then off again?…

Pondered the mystery for weeks…for what better thing for two old folks to ponder than why a small agile cat makes loud thuds upon leaping on a porch…

Because we now know…there is no leap…nary a leap…nary a landing…

Opened the door not realizing we had company…just when a loud thud resonated in the air…and made eye contact with none other than Top Dog…

Squatting…paws together…stretched out in front…whapping, smacking, bapping, you name it…the floor by the door…

And mystery solved…the thud not a thud at all but a knock…a cat knock…saying, “Hello! Anyone home? I’ve come to visit.”…or more like, “Hey, I’m hungry, get out here and feed me.”

And, of course, cat lovers us do…

And so it is…in life…sometimes you have to be creative…think outside the box…be more clever than a fox or in this case more clever than two old folks…to make **it happen…
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And Top Dog…who had a twinkle in his eye and a little smirk on his face when his secret was exposed…would agree…

This husband and I…

Had a best friend here in Texas…tuxedo cat extraordinaire…sat on our porch…sat on our laps…fed him…cuddled him…loved him…

Twas the boss of the camp…cat boss…brave…bold…made sure the other cats knew that he was the club…and they weren’t in it…

Nights would find the boss doing boss things…with the lowlings watching from afar…and now the boss is gone…found a home far away…and that lowling…the one lowling left…is now Top Dog…

Top Dog is timid, sweet, and scared of everything…absolutely everything…come too close, move too fast, breathe too loudly…and there’s panic…hissing…bapping…fear…

Too many summers…too many tourists…

But he’s coming around…baby steps…cat lover me taking it slow…keeping her distance…letting Top Dog call the shots…

Because sometimes in life…to gain a friend you have to be a friend…to gain trust you have to be trustworthy…and to get into the Top Dog Club…you have to have patience, lots of patience…and maybe even a daily serving of Fancy Feast…
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And this husband of mine…agrees…

Coming from the theater last month, this husband and I…

Noticed a couple of cats on a grassy hill near the parking area…see them periodically…walking near the railroad tracks…sitting on a cat house set near a fence…

Decided to drive through the lot…a downtown version of Cats in the Yard…see if those two little strays could be spotted and what to our wondering eyes should we see…

Kitty cats here…kitty cats there…all kinds of kitty cats milling about everywhere…

Big cats, little cats, gray cats, black cats…skinny cats, shaved cats, many little Pumpkin cats…

It was unexpected…shocking…sweet but in a heartbreaking in way…then noticed a sign…a city sign…Protected Feral Cat Colony…Do Not Disturb…

Twas a little homeless camp…for cats…

And cat lover me felt the pull…find out the rules…maybe take up food…only here a few more weeks but surely there’s something she can do…

Because sometimes…in life…you just want to help…reach out…make a difference…a friend…a stranger…a lonely kitty in a kitty cat colony…

Put a little love in your heart and hear the call…
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And that husband of mine…agrees…

This husband and I…

Like to play a game called Cats in the Yard…a made up game…created by two old folks who happen to love cats and apparently don’t have enough to do…

Hop in the car…pick a neighborhood…drive around and look for…you got it…cats in yards…or streets…or on porches or steps…

Some neighborhoods have lots of cats…others don’t…but the ones that do…have all kinds…black ones, white ones…black and white ones…fat ones, skinny ones…ones with no tails…

Some have a home…some look like they need a home…but they all see us seeing them…freezing…making eye contact…two goofy old folks…pointing…counting…oohing and aahing…

And laughing…because it’s ridiculous…because it’s fun…because it’s just so ridiculously fun…and free…and harmless…

And so it is…in life…be creative…be silly…take a meowment and just fur the fun of it…do something that will be impawssible to forget…
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And this husband of mine agrees…

This husband of mine…

Doesn’t take pictures…not often…once in a while gets a wild hair and asks his travel buddy to “Stop there and pose”…

And so she does…making it more of a big to-do than it need be…chin up, tilt head, hand on hip, knee bent…

All in hopes of fooling Father Time…because there’s something about a photo…a decent photo…that can boost an old gal’s confidence…

Applauding a bit in your head…legs look good…double chin not so doubly…that giant pecan takes off ten pounds AND maybe even ten years…

One good shot…a shot where you kind of look like what you think you still look like…can put a spring in the step…a smile on the face…make an old gal feel like age isn’t winning the battle…

And then there’s, dare we say, the real shots…the camera doesn’t lie shots…the flabby tricep…the belly blob…the when did I stop having a waist shots…

Or the shot from that spa day of mine…the ohmyfr***inggawd I need to go to the gym stop eating chocolate walk ten miles a day or maybe just get a girdle I can’t believe I look like that shot…

But zoom in on all that lovely blobbiness and what do we see?..words…wise words…wise words a wise gal wears on that lovely blobbiness…

Kindness is Magic…

So work it…that magic of yours…and be kind to your critical photo perusing self…celebrate you…all that makes you you…because you…are beautiful…
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And this old gal…agrees…

This old gal…

Was invited to a spa day hosted by a friend…a sweet friend…a knowledgeable friend…a friend in a cabin a few steps away…

Gathered with some others…most familiar faces…was treated to chocolate and beverages…a facial and lemon sugar scrub…

Donned that strawberry mask…fixed some cucumbers on the eyes…and just sat back and relaxed, for once listening more than talking…

For those other Spa-sters chatted…told stories…talked about this…talked about that…the coming together of many different backgrounds…the sharing of many different experiences…

And one of us just took it all in…learning from them…laughing with them…leaving feeling refreshed and rejuvenated…

Because sometimes in life…you just need a day with the gals(or night with the guys)…to do gal things…discuss gal things…and for a brief period of time…make it all about you…
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And those daughters of mine…would agree…