Remembering Murphy...and turning 41...

Murphy and me.

This Saturday, 9/24/05, is the day I close out the first year of being in my 40’s. Yup, I’ll turn 41. I’m honestly enjoying being 40. However in hindsight, there were a lot of changes that took place over these past 12 months. And you know what they say about change – it causes stress. Needless to say, I’ve got a massage scheduled for my birthday, not to mention a home-cooked meal prepared by my third favorite chef, Faruk. I don’t think he’ll mind being third behind my mom and Doc. B.

9/24/05 also marks four months since our beloved cat, Murphy, passed away. As sad as this was and as much as I miss him, I’m glad I got to enjoy him for 17 years. He had a humble beginning at an adult foster care home in Battle Creek, MI (a home for men with Down syndrome). He started off as a typical Persian cat – handsome and aloof. But he became a big ol' sweetheart in his old age. He took to Doc. B. over the last 8 years of his life and became “her” cat. He’s still in our hearts, in our minds, and in the pictures all over the house.

A couple of weeks ago, we felt ready enough to take in a foster cat named “Marcus”. Doc. B. was out running errands and just happened to be in Pet Smart (not sure why since we were loaded up on litter, food, cat nip, etc…). While there, she found a happy, but sick, Maine Coon kitty. He had a pretty bad upper respiratory infection and a cage was not the place for him to get well. After three cell phone calls from Doc. B., I finally agreed that she could bring him home to take care of him. This was only after I figured out that “Marcus” has the same number of letters as “Murphy”. Yeah, I know – I guess I was looking for a reason to say okay. We’ve nursed him back to health with antibiotics and are very slowly introducing him to Maddie, our other 17 year old kitty. So far, so good. At first we thought we’d at least be making a little bit more room for an animal that needed space after hurricane Katrina. Now, if Maddie accepts him, he’s a new member of the family. Oh, and we’ve changed his name to “Rumi” (see links to the right).

The other major change this year was my employment. After eight years in corporate America, I’m back in the public sector. Being a civil servant suits me; I think it’s in my blood. My mom’s father worked for the State of New York; my mom’s brother worked for the federal government; my dad’s brother, father and grandfather were all Township Clerks; my dad worked for many different municipalities during his career and still does into his retirement; and I’m sure the list goes on. I’ve never stayed in one job more than 3-4 years. I’m hoping that my current position with the Social Security Administration will be the ticket to breaking that record and that I’ll be able to retire a federal employee. I miss my co-workers at my old job, but I sure don’t miss the human resources headaches of being a supervisor. That’s a story for another day.

So, today, I’m just being thankful for all that transpired during my year of being 40; the good, the bad and the somewhere in between….