Free Republic

This creature had been part of my life for almost 17 years. He wasn't exactly a normal cat. He was built like a medium sized dog. When he was healthy he weighed over 20 pounds. Today he weighed just over 10 pounds and was skin and bone. He had been sick on and off for about a year. Antibiotics helped but he never completely recovered. This morning he really looked bad. We called the vet and took him in. I already expected the worst. The vet said his temp was 92 F (normal is about 101). I expected him to...

SIERRA VISTA — Seized with sorrow as she said goodbye to her four small children, Army Sgt. Alberta Cole resorted to a time-honored trick employed by parents everywhere. "The kids said, 'Mommy, you're crying.' And I said 'No, my eyes are just watering,' " said Cole, a 30-year-old single mom who left for Iraq on Tuesday, her youngest child's first birthday. Hundreds of loved ones waved and wept as members of Fort Huachuca's 86th Signal Battalion boarded a plane bound for Baghdad. Cole is one of 340 Southern Arizona soldiers scheduled to spend a year overseas. A neighbor is watching...

NOTE: I have not been a baseball fan for some time, although I was an absolute fanatic in my youth and part of my adulthood. I really rooted for the hapless Cubs, hoping they would finally break the jinx. It was not to be, once again. Diehard Cub fans, please don't be insulted by this. It is not meant to do that. Have a few brewskis and wait until next year. For years, I felt the pain of the Dodgers and Lakers. I know what it was like. MIDI - IT'S A HEARTACHE It is a heartache...Cubbie fans, a heartache...