I hate that I won't be at the FatF!  But, it sure brought back memories
and so I thought I would share with you why I wish I was going.  Y'all
who can, go, and have fun for me! :)
 
It has been 30 years since I first saw Niagara Falls!  It is hard for me
to believe it has been 30 years since I saw anything!  I just *can't* be
that old!  But, I guess I am!
 
However long it has been, my memories of that day live in my memories as
clear as if they were yesterday.  I even remember what I ordered at the
restaurant overlooking the Falls - trout almondine.  It stared at me from
my plate.  I covered its head with my napkin, but I have not liked trout
since that day!
 
So, what does this have to do with ferrets, you may ask.  Well, it has
everything to do with them.  Just as the memories I have of that trip I
hold dear to my heart, I hold other memories of times spent with those I
love and care for.  These times are made better because they are shared
with people who now hold the same memories.  They are more fun because
they were made with people who I like and who like me.  Should I someday
forget a memory, it is not gone because someone else will have it also.
The feelings, the events and the people will live as long as someone who
was there is around to remember.
 
Ferrets have brought into my life people I would never have met otherwise.
I am a white middle-aged Christian professional with no tattooes and
natural colored hair who now counts among my friends people who I might
have otherwise passed on the street.  And, who would have probably passed
me without a second glance.  My friends have purple, black, blonde and no
hair!  They have tattooes in places I don't WANT to know!  They do weird
things - like lick sheets!  - and drive across the country to deliver a
furball.  They practice Wicca and are Druids!  They are attorneys and
computer geeks and unemployed.  And, there are some I would have probably
known anyway - if they lived close enough to be in my neighborhood - the
hearing and the deaf.  They are people!  People I believe were brought
into my life for a reason.
 
And, while I may not always agree with all of them and they may not always
agree with me, I know that we will be there to support each other and to
offer a shoulder, a word of advice, a pat on the back.  Some of these
people will be at the Forum at the Falls.  And that, my friends, is why
I wish I was going to be there, too!
 
> Info and registration forms at
> http://www.ferretcongress.org
 
renie
[Posted in FML issue 3845]