The recent loss of my friend and shelter mom Kym has resulted in not only a painful week, but also one filled with life lessons. This was a dear friend who was only 36 years old. While in the height of emotion on the day of the funeral, I learned that everything was not as I was lead to believe for over a year. For this reason, I must retract the closing paragraph of my previous post on speaking out against domestic violence. Certainly I do not condone domestic violence, but in this case, there was no such abuse going on. Facts have been double checked before I am taking this action. I am making this effort to retract the statement out of fairness to the individual who although unnamed, most would have concluded to be the abuser. I did not realize the extent of the pain that my friend was in while she walked this life. She worked hard to keep it that way and I believed her, she was my friend. I am not angry at her for this, she was not well. Lessons learned include that not everything is as it might seem, but more importantly for me, that I should have never been in the business of judging someone to begin with. In the end, I still have lost a dear friend and will miss her greatly. I am happy for her that her struggles in this earthly walk have come to an end and that she is on to better things. My apologies to the group for miss-speaking and unjustly rousing all sorts of emotion earlier in the week. One thing will never change - Kym had a heart as big as the universe and was kind, loving and giving to many people and animals. Sadly, she was not able to extend the same compassion to herself. Jerri Carel The Ferret Haven Louisville, KY [Posted in FML 5555]