[Jackie07]

Cathy, Karen, Karoline, KsGal, Cath, Caya, Suzan, and all the Her2support members,

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm thankful for all the friendship and support shared on this Board. We are indeed a big family, in the form of a United Nation - each of us representing a unique background/environment and genes that resulted in the same type of cancer. We are travelling together with a dark cloud hanging over our head. Sometimes, a flash of lightening strikes and we lose our beloved fellow travelers; other times, it's a lingering low depression that bought persistent rain/wind/...

But we are strong - particularly when we bind ourselves together and march forward together.

Feeding the cats at Father-in-law's house has taught me a few things:

I've been responsible for feeding the cats in the yard. There are six new kittens in the front porch. The 'Mama' cat left after her babies were weaned. Papa cat stayed but now only shows up to eat the feed I put in the big pan. The six grown kittens have been curling together inside the cardboard box I'd placed in the front porch. Father-in-law has donated several of his old undershirts to cushion the box in order to keep the kittens warm.

These cats sleep tightly together to weather the sudden drop of the temperature. Even though they fight over food sometimes - most of the time they play together, eat together. Papa cat and Mama cat used to stand on guard when the baby cats were gobbling down the feed. Now only the Papa cat would be over once in a while - because I always leave ample food in the (old, rusty baking) pan.

These cats are not shy of asking for help. They would line up on the ramp of the front door and make noises if I had ignored their quiet 'sit in'. They would try to get to the source of the food when I was fetching the feed from the attached storage/washing/sewing room. Though I always try to make sure no cats have been locked in, every once in a while I'd hear the mewing across the kitchen window; or hubby would find 1 or 2 kitties rushing out of the house or laundry room when he opened the doors in the morning. They sometimes fight over the 'feeding' order, one or two of them would stand in the pan and obliviously block other cats from getting to the food. But they would not hoard the food (no need, I guess they would not stuff themselves to death. Once a cat is full, it will either go back to the box, or go out to the porch to play. They are curious - a paper towel roller can be a nice toy for a group game.

"Ask, and thou shall receive." "Knock, and the door shall open." These cats have modeled/exhibited the faith that the creator have been reminding us of all along.