Gentle Cures

I just learned our perfectly healthy looking neighbor is very ill. And I am not surprised to hear that he reacted to chemo therapies badly. I do wish that he will get well soon so among other things he and his furry friend can enjoy their many daily walks in the neighborhood again.

This bad news makes me wonder why it is so easy to contract cancer now. Not only people suffer great deal from this deadly disease, their pets as well. Two of our cats contracted cancer this year. Both of them were gone now. And I also know at least two of our neighborhood dogs died of cancer not long ago. One of them had been treated with surgeries and chemo therapy.

Based on what I heard, it sounded to me cancer treatments are harsh ones. Someone had said the cancer patients suffered more from the treatments than the disease itself. There must be other therapies available that can cure cancers. If there are not, then I urge the esteemed medical professions work hard on finding cures that are kinder and gentler to their devastated patients. - Ayes

To Remember or Not to Remember

Last night on "60 Minutes," Andy Rooney was lamenting about his discriminating memory. Over the years, he had saved many documents and objects in cardboard boxes and wooden cases. But because he does not remember the reasons why he saves these items, he has seldom gone back to the letters and articles that he has saved in different receptacles. He also does not remember many happy things happened in his life. But he has no trouble recounting the bad experiences he has had in the past.

And Mr. Rooney is not alone in this predicament.

Many of us also had glutted our storage space with tons of useless objects and papers.

With respect to our personal memory banks, we do remember the bad occasions more often than the good ones. Somehow we tend to emphasize the bad times we have had but most likely to overlook the jolly ones. Maybe this is one of the reasons why many of us are living in a very unhappy life. Granted, when bad luck strikes us, the devastating and hurtful after shock can stay with us forever.

Once again, Mr. Rooney has something for me to ponder about. - Ayee