The Story of Joe.

Well, it’s just the beginning of his story, really – Just the prelude – and I’ll state right up front, I need Joe just as much as Joe needs me.

You see, a few days ago we rescued a newborn kitten from a remote road turnout. The little thing was cold, hungry, and its eyes were glued shut from a raging infection.  He was covered in dirt, and had obviously been there for a few days, at the very least.  He was lethargic and hypothermic.  We looked extensively for litter mates and found none.  We waited for several hours, observing to see if its mother was out hunting and would come back.  Yet it was quite obvious that he had no mother around as he was in such poor condition – but we had to be sure.  He would not have made it through another night.  We brought the little fella home wrapped in our sweaters.  He hardly moved or made a sound.  It was so heartbreaking!  We took him to the vet the next day for treatment.

Nurturing and caring actions change us, don’t you think?  At the very least, it grounds us.  It has an impact upon our physical and mental health.  It’s a connection to purpose, and to God’s awesome plan.  It reflects God’s greatest Commandment to love one another…..even animals.  Being kind to every creature and creation under heaven. The universal and sacred circle of life.  Be a part of the goodness!

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Design Team:  Pixelscrapper
Design Theme:  Jack & Jill

I didn’t have much enthusiasm for the theme, so my Pixelscrapper offering this month is rather………scatterbrained a bit.  If you visit the Pixelscrapper website, the other designer’s are much more on point than I.

DOWNLOAD LINKS:
Elements
Patterned Papers
Solid Papers

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Design Team:  Scraptwist Free4All
Design Theme:  Pumpkin Spice

DOWNLOAD LINKS:
Elements
Patterned Papers
Solid Papers
Watercolor Papers

Blog Train Designers:
tp designs
KJDdesigns
Marniejo’s House of Scraps
Nellie Bell
The Brown Owl
Moore Blessings Digital Designs
Songbird Scraps Designs
Lady DGScrap
Honeysuckle Lane Designs
Dancing Tiger designs

If you visit the Scraptwist Forum and participate in the free challenges, you will receive a free posting bonus that is linked to each challenge.  I have three challenges there!  Here is a preview of all of the free things that you can earn in the month of October (My previews are the third row down….)

Darn it, Jake!  Knock it off!

(Photo of the convict in our apricot tree)

Our cat, Jake, now has TWO bells on his collar, and a tag.  One bell was not enough for our bird friends to become aware of his sneaky, conniving presence.  (Darn it, Jake!)  One bell  worked throughout the summer until this week.  He now wears a full complement of clanging, annoying metal that can be heard from a block away.  Or so it’s my hope.  He has discovered that if he hides up in the trees and hunkers down in the camouflage of leaves and branches, he can drop down on top of unsuspecting birds like a commando strike team.  (Darn it, Jake!)  His hunting skills are very impressive, but not appreciated.  He has been lectured and grounded to the house, to no avail.  So we have moved the quail and bird feeders up on the deck where I can monitor what is going on.  Jake is not allowed outside at the bird’s breakfast time or dinner time.  He fusses at the door about it and beats up his toys, but at least there will be no more bird funerals around here.   The quail are bringing their second batch of summer babies to the feeder, so we are really enjoying watching them grow.

The quail are wild and free-range.  We just want the covey to increase in size and live happy lives, in safety and peace.

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Design Team:  Scrappin’ Your Heart Out
Theme: Cafe’ Au Lait

Here are my designs for this month’s blog train, and please check out the other designers listed, below.  I didn’t have much time for designing a lot of elements this time, so I apologize for the kit being so small.   Hope you find something here to use for your own scrapbooking.

DOWNLOAD LINKS:
Elements
Papers

Blog Train Designers:

Many years ago there lived a beautiful boy, greatly loved by his mother.  He never knew his father, but no matter – He grew into a talented boy who loved to paint with oils and acrylics.  He loved music, and as he grew, he would dream of a future filled with all the things that he loved. He had a kind heart for others, yet a mischievous side that drove his younger sisters a bit crazy.

His mother would come to marry a very difficult man full of anger and rage.  As the beautiful boy grew into his teens, he faced many hard days and nights of brutality and fear.  The mother became a shell of her former self, overwhelmed and lost, unable to protect the boy.   As time went by, the beautiful boy became the focal point for the difficult man’s alcoholic rages.  There were days the boy didn’t know if he would live to see the next sunrise. He didn’t know what hurt more, the abrasions of the skin, or those on his heart and mind………..

He lived in that constant fear daily, and eventually, it killed the very light within him – that beautiful, talented light.  As you know, first the heart breaks, and then the mind.  The boy’s hopes and dreams were blowing away like fragile dandelion seeds, caught in the wild wind, a maelstrom of destruction.

He left home as soon as he could, a teenager on the streets.   And as the adult years grew closer to him, he grew further away from everything and everyone.  His family lost track of him.  The entire world lost track of him.  No one remembered his birthday or sent him a gift for Christmas.  No one invited him over for Sunday dinner or a Friday night movie.   It was as if he never even existed.  It was as if he had died.

And then, one day, he did.

On Christmas Day in 2010, he collapsed on a sidewalk in a seedy part of town, in a state far, far away.  Methamphetamines raged through his body until his heart exploded.  He didn’t use his heart anymore anyway, not for a long time.  His heart had felt no love, no hate, no joy for a very long time.  He made sure of that.  It was just easier to exist that way, finding comfort in the numbness of oblivion.

He was still young, just 50 years old.  The police found him there on the sidewalk.  He had carried no ID in his pockets.  No one knew him.  Police searched databases and neighborhoods for information until they identified him.  His body lay in the county morgue for over a month until the police were finally able to locate a family member thousands of miles away.

His parents had died years previously, but a sister had been found. The eldest one.  The one that had searched for him for several years, but could never locate him.  The sister made the arrangements with the out-of-state morgue and a distant funeral home.  The beautiful boy was cremated, and his ashes shipped back to his home state.

She had sat at a table of a local mortuary to accept delivery of the beautiful boy.  As she waited, she wondered how many times a heart could be broken – one hundred times?  One thousand times?  Why were some people able to recover and move forward, when others were not?  There were no answers.

Eventually, an employee passed her a box of ashes no bigger than a package of flour.  A plain white box full of all that was, all that remained of the beautiful boy. She gathered him up in her arms to take him home.

Alone, with just his sister present to say words of prayer, sorrow, and regret, his ashes were scatted.  She poured out all that he was into the clear, icy blue waters of the Cook Inlet –  well, all that he was here on earth.

Because the beauty of him will forever remain in heaven.

I am that sister. 

And I ask that you be kind to one another.  Our very lives depend upon it.

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Design Team:  Scrap Designers
Design Theme:  See You In September

DOWNLOAD LINKS:
Elements
Patterned Papers
Solid Papers
Watercolor Papers

Blog Train Designers:  Please note that designers are in different time zones across the world, so if a kit is not yet posted, come back again a few hours later.  Thank you for your understanding.
Scrapbookcrazy Creations by Robyn
The Rush Ranch
KJDdesigns
Skinni Scraps
Joy’s Creations
Miggins
Digiscrap
Angelhaze
AnnieCDigitals
Promethean Concepts
Living4Him2
Becky’s Creations
Moore Blessings

Design Team:  Pixelscrapper
Design Theme:  Renaissance Faire

DOWNLOADS:
Elements
Patterned Papers
Solid Papers
Watercolors

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Design Team:  Scraptwist Free4All
Design Theme: Cozy Mountain Lodge

I’ve made three additional mini kits that are only available in the forum challenges at ScraptwistFree4All.  You don’t need to buy anything, it’s all free.  No hidden agendas – just a sweet place to meet some new people and get some free stuff at the same time.  I administer three challenges:  the Bookmark Challenge, the Quote Challenge, and the Template Challenge.  There are other challenges as well, and the forum administrators work hard to create a free kit for each one.  Please join us, so that we can get to know you better.

Here is this month’s blog train kit:

DOWNLOADS
Elements
Patterned Papers
Solid Papers
Watercolor

Blog Train Designers:  Please note that designers are in different time zones across the world, so if a kit is not yet posted, come back again a few hours later.  Thank you for your understanding.

TP designs
KJDdesigns
Marniejo’s House of Scraps
Nellie Bell
Dancing Tiger designs
Moore Blessings Digital Designs
Songbird Scraps Designs
Honeysuckle Lane Designs
Lady DGScrap

Design Team:  Scrappin’ Your Heart Out
Design Theme: Tropical Paradise

DOWNLOADS:
Elements
Patterned Papers
Solid Papers
Watercolor Papers

Blog Train Designers:  Please note that designers are in different time zones across the world, so if a kit is not yet posted, come back again a few hours later.  Thank you for your understanding.

Designer Group:  We Believe Blog Train
Designer Theme:  The Beatitudes

DOWNLOADS
Elements
Cards
Patterned Papers
Plaid Papers
Solid Papers
Watercolor Papers

Blog Train Designers:
Nellie Bell
Songbird Scraps Designs
A-M Designs
Dreamn4ever Designs
Moore Blessings Digital Designs
Lori Imel Designs
LEA Art Designs
We Believe Blog Page