Random Kindness

Yesterday I went to pick up my newspaper at a neighborhood drug store. After I found my daily, I lined up like many others did at the checkout stand. There were only about four or five customers ahead of me so I expected I would be out of the store soon, and still have time taking a leisure stroll home. Wrong! An elderly lady at the front of the line seemed to have problems with the battery she needed for her hearing aids. Since she herself did not know which one is the right one, the cashier at the till was totally lost in a maze of many button-like batteries. Even though no one was complaining about the wait, the line was getting longer. And that poor senior remained baffled as to the type of the specialized battery she needed. Then, a young fellow in a dark suit next to this flustered senior citizen decided to take the matter upon himself. He asked the cashier wait on other customers while he sorted out the arrays of disc-like power cells for a somewhat confused senior. By the time it was my turn to pay for my paper, I could see that well-dressed young fellow was no near to that Eureka moment he was looking for.

On my way home, I could not help but marvel at an act of selfless kindness unfolded in front of us at the store. Even though, I did not offer my service to this senior in need, I was pleased to see someone else did. - Ayee

A Super Mom

There is a no better day than Mother’s Day to remember a super mom.

In the spring of 1997, upon my return from a holiday, I found my feline family had grown again. Not only I got one extra kitty but a pregnant one. I bet when the mouse was away the cat played. After a Found ad failed to find this purring machine’s owner, I kept her and named her Purdy.

Luckily, care for an expecting queen was not a hard task. Purdy also got along with the other cats well, particularly Sweetie. Finally on the B-day, actually it was in the wee hours of the night, Purdy brought me the most precious gifts in the world: four helpless kittens. Voila! She managed to give birth to bundles of joy without a hitch. At the time when I discovered what Purdy had just accomplished, her newborns had already latched on their mommy feeding. Their deft mother also left their birthing place spotless clean.

During the ensuring weeks, Purdy fussed over the newborns 24/7. The kittens were in shipshape conditions. They became more and more appealing by the day. When the babies were still blind, Purdy hid them in different places. Once the kittens could see and negotiate their own little steps, their dear mom would round them up on the floor like what Lassie did to the sheep on the farm. When my other cats were near, she would chase them except Sweetie away from her pride and joy. Sweetie, a neutered tom, sat proudly by the kits as a surrogate dad. The sight of her lying on her side nursing her four little furry bundles was so soothing to watch. It also brought comforting feeling in me.

Motherhood and raising children are complicated and taxing matters. But for a devoted mom like Purdy, it all came naturally. Raising four kittens at once was a piece cake for her.

Sadly, Purdy is no longer with us. Our super mom disappeared from our home six months ago. I still had no clue as to what had happened to her. But for the good old time’s sake, I am here to wish her a happiest Mother’s Day. Purdy, our super mom, do come home soon! - Ayee

Liberation Procedure

Recently there was a breaking news on a new treatment for Multiple Sclerosis (MS). MS is thought to be an autoimmune-related ailment. Currently MS patients are under the care of neurologists. Now an Italian doctor thinks blocked blood vessels are the causes of this debilitating disease. And a surgical procedure, similar to angioplasty, an accepted and proven medical practice, called Liberation, can help lessen MS symptoms, hence sufferings.

Dr. Paolo Zamboni’s theory on the MS seems to be plausible. We all know blood is life. If for any reason its conduit, blood vessels, fails to function, serious disease ensues. A few of MS suffers had the procedure and found good results. Some of them got to start walking again. Now due to the lack of research on this new treatment for MS, hospitals in both America and Canada are not allowed to provide Liberation treatments. Despite the prohibition, desperate MS patients now seek the treatment in overseas hospitals.

First I commend the medical professions for their cautious stance on this new discovery. But in the meantime, they should also respect their patients’ need as well. - Ayee

"Stand and Deliver," A 1988 Film

This is a story of a very special high school teacher in a Hispanic neighborhood in East Los Angeles. I did not see the movie but Garfield High School does ring a bell to me. Jaime Escalante, the greatest teacher in America, believes mathematics is the power to a better life. He, an immigrant from La Paz, Bolivia, moved to Los Angeles in 1964. He started his esteemed career at Garfield ten years later. The student body there is mostly immigrants from Mexico. Most families in this school district had struggled to make ends meet. They often left their children fend for themselves without any parental guidance. But this disadvantageous social and economical situation did not discourage this great teacher. Through his Calculus classes, he inspired his many students to do their best. By hard working, he helped his students from underprivileged families believing in themselves. Many studied at the late Mr. Escalante’s classes had gone to college and followed their mentor’s footsteps becoming teachers and professors themselves, in math, of course.

Exactly one month and four days ago, Mr. Escalante died in Sacramento, California, of bladder cancer.

Years ago, I read articles about the demise of professionalism in many professions that included teachers. So the story of the late Mr. Escalante is so encouraging and refreshing. What he had accomplished during his long tenure at Garfield is also truly incredible. - Ayee

It's time to be humble.

On the weekend, while watching the Professional Golf Association’s Zurich Classic on television, I learned the tournament’s second day play was delayed due to the inclement weather in New Orleans. The lightening came along with a thunderstorm that struck a tall tree on the course. Fortunately, no one there was injured from this mishap. But some residents in a neighboring state were not that lucky. A tornado swept through the State of Mississippi left ten people dead and many homeless. Not mention the devastating earthquakes that shook the world from Haiti and Chile in Americas and Tibet in China. Then a volcano in Iceland continued spewing out its deadly hot lava into the air and stopped all air travels at many European airports for many weeks.

All of the above mentioned destructive phenomena happened one after another since January of this year. The world has become smaller. And bad news does travel fast. But in the years past natural disasters had never occurred one after another like what has happened so far this year.

I do not know if these are the ways Mother Nature tells us that enough is enough. But I do know no one can decipher what exactly the nature has in stores for us. Perhaps it is time that we take a back seat to reflect and be humble. So we can assure ourselves that the next carbon footsteps we are about to take are smaller and gentler ones. - Ayee

An Eye-Opener

The other day Sweetie got to try on two new things.

First, he got to use a new cat carrier. The old one we had is made of wood with a rigid steel wire dome. I had many good uses of it. But because of its solid sturdy construction and size, it is quite heavy. So I decided that we should get a new one that is smaller and lighter. The new one I got from a supermarket is made of canvas-type clothes with mesh on the sides. The floor of this pet taxi is padded with soft fleece material. Usage of velcro on the handle plus the adjustable long shoulder straps make travel with our pets a less strenuous exercise. That day I did not have to use any trickery to get Sweetie inside the cage. Putting him down into the carrier through an opening on the top is a cinch. He seemed to be quite at ease sitting up inside his new cab. This is the first time that he rode in his cage all the way to the vet’s office without much whimpering.

Then, believe or not Sweetie, our sweet old chap, got to have his blood pressure tested for the heart murmurs the vet detected during our last visit.

Since I never heard or read of checking b/p on animals, it is something entirely new to me. But for the sake of my kitty’s good health, I decided to put my poor cat through this testing procedure. I also stayed with Sweetie and observed what the vet had to do to get an accurate b/p reading from a fidgeting cat.

The measuring device on animals is a smaller version of the manometer our doctor used but it reads diastolic pressures only. It did not take long to fasten the cuff onto one of Sweetie’s front leg. But it took the vet and his assistance an embarrassingly long time to locate the right spot to stick a probe between the toes of the same leg. Apparently, this is not a frequently practiced diagnostic procedure. Then once the probe was at the right place, we could hear a rhythmic swishing sound emitted from a metal box labeled "Ultrasound Profiler." After many gentle squeezes of a rubber pump, the dial in the round-face meter settled on a couple of readings in the range between 118 and 120. According to the vet, Sweetie’s ticker seemed to be all right! And he also became the first cat in our feline family who had been tested for blood pressure! - Ayee

Arm-Chair Golfer

Spring is always a welcome season when warm sunshine returns and cherry trees blossom to their best. It is also the time when the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) starts to air its competitions on television regularly on weekends. This armchair golfer has once again geared up for the world’s best players to show case their incredible shots on beautiful but challenging courses.

Talking about the incredible shots, the PGA tour players with the latest model of over sized drivers on hand plus their equally large biceps can send a tiny little object into stratospheric distance with the utmost accuracy. What a feat! It looks easy when they were playing the shots. I suppose being a pro golfer golfing becomes a job. They must always play well in order to earn a decent living and to be qualified to play in the next season.

However the recent revelation of the world number one player’s discretion off-course did change my view of professional golfers somewhat. Perhaps in my humble opinion the tournament’s monetary prize is getting too rich. Pro golfers are human beings. So they are no different from other well-paid sports figures. After the game it is party time for everyone. But I do hope golfing remains a gentleman’s sport in which integrity is always the most important component of the game. Fore! - Ayee