This is one of those great stories I received in an e-mail.  I really enjoyed it and so I thought I would share it with you.  Enjoy…

Anyone who has pets will really like this. You’ll like it even if you don’t and you may even decide you need one!

Mary and her husband Jim had a dog named ‘Lucky.’ Lucky was a real character. Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for a weekend visit, they would warn their friends to not leave their luggage open because Lucky would help himself to whatever struck his fancy. Inevitably, someone would forget and something would come up missing.

Mary or Jim would go to Lucky’s toy box in the basement and there the treasure would be, amid all of Lucky’s other favorite toys. Lucky always stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very particular that his toys stay in the box.

It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer. Something told her she was going to die of this disease ….in fact , she was just sure it was fatal.

She scheduled the double mastectomy, fear riding her shoulders. The night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with Lucky. A thought struck her …what would happen to Lucky? Although the
three-year-old dog liked Jim, he was Mary’s dog through and through. If I die, Lucky will be abandoned, Mary thought. He won’t understand that I didn’t want to leave him. The thought made her sadder than thinking of her own death.

The double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had anticipated and Mary was hospitalized for over two weeks. Jim took Lucky for his evening walk faithfully, but the little dog just drooped, was whining and was miserable.

Finally the day came for Mary to leave the hospital. When she arrived home, Mary was so exhausted she couldn’t even make it up the steps to her bedroom. Jim made his wife comfortable on the couch and left her to nap. Lucky stood watching Mary but he didn’t come to her when she called. It made Mary sad but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.

When Mary woke for a second she couldn’t understand what was wrong. She couldn’t move her head and her body felt heavy and hot. But panic soon gave way to laughter when Mary realized the problem. She was covered, literally blanketed, with every treasure Lucky owned! While she had slept, the sorrowing dog had made trip after trip to the basement bringing his beloved mistress all his favorite things in life. He had covered her with his love.

Mary forgot about dying. Instead she and Lucky began living again, walking further and further together every day. It’s been 12 years now and Mary is still cancer-free. Lucky? He still steals treasures and
stashes them in his toy box but Mary remains his greatest treasure.

Remember…. live every day to the fullest. Each minute is a blessing from God. And never forget…. the people who make a difference in our lives are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards They are the ones that care for us.

If you see someone without a smile today give them one of yours! Live simply. Love seriously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

It is not my intent to infringe upon anyone’s copyright and if I have inadvertently done so, please contact me and I will remove this post.  Also, the dog pictured above is not the dog "Lucky" mentioned in the story.  I thought this little dog dressed as "Captain Jack" would be a good mascot for "Lucky" since pirates love to collect treasure!

In my last blog post I talked about laughter and it’s many benefits.  I shared a story about Wendy, my 15 year old house guest and how we amused ourselves sharing YouTube videos.  Some of the videos were so funny they had me in tears.  I thought I’d share one of them.  I’ll admit there is a degree of stupidity here but I thought the execution was brilliant.  So if you haven’t had your daily dose of laughter, check this out.

OK, now I’m a little disappointed.   I just went over to YouTube to grab the video and it’s no longer available.  Bummer.  So I am forced to post an alternate.  You’ve probably already seen this one becuase it’s really popular.  It’s only funny because the host of the show cannot stop laughing.  The video is in some other language like Icelandic or Swedish or something.  Obviously, the couple he’s interviewing have experienced some kind of tragedy which is most unfortunate and definitely NOT funny. However, the moment the guest begins to speak with his unusual high pitched voice, the host completely loses it.  He loses it to the point that he simply cannot pull himself together.  Most of us have experienced this at one time or another.  You know, laughing at an inappropriate time because something just cracks you up.  Check it out.

the funniest video in the world

This week I’ve had the pleasure of having a 15 year old as my house guest.  Wendy is the daughter of one of my dear friends and wanted to come for a visit. Her mom has been telling me for years that her daughter is like a little clone of me as we share many of the same personality traits. She’s incredibly bright, quick-witted, mature, self-reliant, and basically, a delightful young lady.  We really do have very similar personalities with the exception that I wasn’t nearly that mature at her age! In fact, I’ve been telling her all week that she’s 15 going on 40. Of course, I haven’t seen her interact with people her own age so that may be an entirely different story. At any rate, she’s a real joy to have around.

I’ve tried to make the week fun for her and as such, we’ve been staying pretty busy. We went to the beach and found starfish, we went to the Everglades and saw alligators, we played basketball, we went swimming, and we’ve talked up a storm. Wendy shares our love of reading; so of course, we squeezed in a trip to the local bookstore every day. She is currently home schooled and excels at just about every subject; every subject except for Algebra.

I wanted to help her but it’s been so long since I’ve done Algebra I wasn’t sure that I would be able to. So I went through some of her lessons, we watched a few tutorials, and then we worked through a couple of problem areas. After this exhausting session of mental gymnastics we were ready for some much needed fun and we were off to YouTube. I mean where else does one turn when looking for mindless entertainment?

We proceeded to share our favorite funny videos. Admittedly, they are very stupid, but also quite funny. At one point, I became so overwhelmed with laughter I just couldn’t stop. I was laughing so hard I began to cry and tears were rolling down my face. When Wendy saw this she turned her focus to me as she thought my reaction was even funnier than the videos.

Prior to her arrival I had been working really hard on a couple various projects so I guess I just needed to release some built up tension and it came out in the form of laughter.

Laughter has so many benefits it should probably have a recommended daily allowance. Here are some:

1. Laughter helps to release tension and relieve stress.

2. Laughter provides a mini aerobic workout.

3. Laughter releases endorphins and puts us in a better mood.4. Laughter is contagious. Just hearing someone laugh will often make us laugh.

5. Laughter helps increase blood flow according to a study by the University of Maryland.

6. Laughter helps us better relate to one another.

7. It is believed that laughter increases the efficiency of our immune system.

8. Laughter helps us develop our sense of humor.

9. Laughter is free.

10. Laughter is just plain fun.

As e.e. cummings once said, "The most wasted of all days is one without laughter."  I love this quote and it’s obvious that e.e. cummings didn’t take himself too seriously. He didn’t even bother to use capital letters in his name!

It occurs to me that life is just too short to not make time for lots of laughter. Have you had your daily dose?

Popularized by Edward Lear in his Book of Nonsense in 1845, the limerick takes it’s name from the County of Limerick, Ireland.  These 5 line poems though usually funny, are often quite bawdy and lewd.  No doubt you’ve heard the one about the man from Nantucket or the man from Kent.  If not, probably all the better!

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day I thought it would be nice to share a few G-rated limericks…

A flea and a fly in a flue
Were imprisoned so what could they do?
Said the fly, “Let us flee!”
“Let us fly!” Said the flea
And they flew through a flaw in the flue

A cheerful old bear at the Zoo
Could always find something to do.
When it bored him, you know,
To walk to and fro,
He reversed it and walked fro and to

A tutor who tooted a flute
Tried to teach two young tooters to toot
Said the two to the tutor,
“Is it harder to toot, or…
To tutor two tooters to toot?”

And finally…

There once was a farmer from leeds
Who ate six packets of seeds
It soon came to pass
He was covered in grass
And couldn’t sit down for the weeds

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I almost hate to admit it but I’m a "Dancing With The Stars" junkie.  The commitment required on the part of the contestants just blows my mind.  The whole process is fascinating to me.  These regular people, most of whom have no formal dance training, are transformed into world class dancers in a matter of weeks. It is truly a metamorphosis!

With the season premiere fast approaching I thought it would be nice to share an inspirational dance video.  If you’re a Coldplay fan you’ll most likely enjoy this little nostalgia trip.   Between the ages of the dancers, their bizarre costumes, Coldplay, and the boats drifting past, this video has a somewhat surrealistic feel.

At any rate, the dancers were 25 and 84 at the time the video was made.  This lady is fearless.  Click on the link below and check it out.  It certainly shows that age is just a number!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wli0VjOmabU

In the current economic climate it’s often difficult to stay positive when every where you look stores are closing, people are losing their jobs right and left, and the once stable real estate market has taken massive hits. Many people aren’t able to make their house payments due to job losses. Even some of the ones who can afford to pay are upside down in their homes in that they actually owe more than their homes are worth. Mortgage companies are foreclosing on homes that they certainly don’t want. Stock market volatility has caused many to lose a huge portion of their portfolios forcing some to postpone retirement. It’s hard to find the positive in such trying economic times.

The other day my husband and I saw a movie that had a profound effect on me. The movie was "Slumdog Millionaire". If you haven’t seen the film I highly recommend it. It’s a story about Jamal, an 18 year old kid who wins the largest jackpot in the history of India’s version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire". During a break between filming, he is tortured by the local police who are convinced that he has somehow cheated on the game show. When questioned, the boy finally relents and begins to tell the story explaining how he knew each particular answer and in doing so we get a glimpe into that segment of his life. By the end of the interrogation, Jamal has given us a complete picture of his life.

The story was full of despair, hope, courage, and ultimately triumph as the young boy is finally able to achieve his meteoric rise out of poverty like a Phoenix rising from the ashes. The thing that really shocked me about this film was the harsh living conditions to which Jamal was subjected. While I’m certainly aware that there are many poverty stricken regions of the world, I had no idea that such filth and squalor were a common component of the lives of millions of people.

When we walked out of the theatre I must say I felt like the richest woman in the world. Just having the luxury of being able to go to a movie theatre is pretty amazing. If you have a roof over your head, food in your belly, and a warm bed you are probably richer than half of the world. If you have a car and electricity, then by the standards of many, you are quite wealthy. If you have someone who loves you, then you’ve really hit the jackpot!

I like to think that I’m an appreciative person but seeing "Slumdog" definitely opened my eyes. It reminded me of the resiliency of the human spirit. It reminded me that no matter what your situation or station in life, there are always things to celebrate. It reminded me of the importance of following your dreams. And most of all, it reminded me of just how important it is to realize and appreciate all that is good in my life.