A Can of Spam and Bread Filled with Whiskey!

I thought I'd end this Memorial Day with a story I heard from my Great Aunt this weekend. We were talking about the war and how it was when her husband was stationed in the Phillipines in the 40's.

All the women would show their love and appreciation for their service men by sending letters and care packages to those stationed far away. Ellie sent photos of herself so John would have something to remember her by. He told her not to send those sexy photos of her wearing her bathrobe anymore because she was driving him wild.

Ellie also loved to bake cookies and other treats and package them up for John. Then she started worrying that he wasn't getting enough to eat in the Army, so she wanted to send him something more substantial.

A can of Spam was her food of choice; the one thing she knew would keep him strong and nourished and for some reason, this was what she decided to send. Of course, John didn't want the Spam—he probably had more than his share of canned meat while he was there. Nobody else wanted it either. For days it sat on the table; unclaimed by any of the soldiers. Finally it became the company joke and it was finally claimed. That can was the perfect thing for target practice!

So John wrote to Ellie and said: "Please don't send any more Spam." If she wanted to send a treat, could she please send alcohol! Of course, alcohol wasn't allowed, but she was determined to send some anyways! She hollowed out a loaf of bread and hid a pint of whiskey inside. But to make sure he didn't throw it away, she put a note on the outside of the box: "Look inside the bread!" We're not quite sure if he even got this care package, but it was surely sent with love.

Random the Cat

Gosh! I just realized it's been FOREVER since I've posted! Yes, I'm lame and flakey, sorry!

I thought I'd tell you about Random the Cat. He's the little kitty in my avatar and He's been my constant companion and best friend for 17 years. I used to live in an apartment upstairs. The stoner guys that lived downstairs from us were moving—yaay! I felt so bad for their little kitty who meowed and cried all day when they moved. Poor kitty—you must be so scared that they are causing so much commotion and stealing all your furniture. I figured they would be back later that night to get him, once the moving was done.

I didn't hear kitty the next day, so I was glad to know they had picked him up. Unfortunately, on the third night, I heard the poor guy crying again. Those SOB's had abandoned their cat and left him trapped and alone inside an empty apartment for 3 days! I don't think they were cruel, I think they were just too stupid or stoned to know the difference. I immediately called our apartment management and insisted they send someone over to get that cat.

Poor little guy was so scared and hungry when he was delivered to our apartment. He was thirsty and starving and so glad to see people. We immediately bonded. He didn't recognize what cat food was, but figured it out pretty quick. He did recognize the Pizza Man and a McDonald's bag, so I knew right away how he had been fed before. Poor kitty didn't really even know how to purr. He did start purring after a couple of days, but you could only tell this by holding your ear close to him to hear it.

His paws were huge and I though he would be a giant cat, but then I realized that they were so big because of his extra toes. Yup. Random is polydactile and has 6 toes and 7 claws on each of his front paws. I'm told that's lucky and Random is one lucky kitty!

At first we were going to name him Chaos, but then Random sounded better to go with our other cat's name; Romana. Random & Romana were good friends and he was very sad when she passed away. He used to love to sleep next to her and chase her when she was bored. She was almost 3 times his size, but he'd chase her anyways. Whenever she got fed up with his antics, she'd whack him with one of her big paws and you could almost see stars and little birds flying around his head!

Random used to follow me around the house; where ever I went, there he was. After he realized I wouldn't abandon him, he would still silently just happen to be in whatever room I was in. I've been very happy to have him for my pal all these years.