REVIEW: THE CAT LADY'S SECRET

The Cat Lady's Secret
Linda W. Yezak

The Cat Lady's Secret is a charming story about forgiveness and new beginnings. You don't have to be a cat lover to enjoy this book.

Emily Taylor has a gift for philanthropic work until a lapse of judgement ruins her reputation. Humiliated, she returns to her hometown with Millie, an elderly woman who has a flair for wearing mismatched polyester and passes time rescuing cats.

Emily finds that running home doesn't solve her problems. She must take courage and meet, head on, the person who brought scandal to her work

The Cat Lady's Secret is an enjoyable page-turner. The reader will feel uplifted for having spent time in Ms. Yezak's world.

LEGALISM VS KINDNESS

The death of actor and comedian, Robin Williams, took most people by surprise. He was brilliant. His work touched millions.

The second surprise was the response to the suicide. I don't care how worldly people respond to such a thing. Non-Christians are not expected to have the same lens by which we view the world.

What did surprise me was that so many Christians threw out opinions without thinking about the feelings and sensitivities of others. They didn't consider that other members of Facebook or their message boards might also have known others who have committed suicide. They could have been tactful or helpful. Instead, they chose to run their mouths.

One person posted that anyone who commits suicide will go to Hell. I asked her to give me a Bible verse upon which she based this belief. Many people have said that, but no one has given me a verse. She never got back to me on that one.

There was one site where a person posted some things that made me feel that she, also, might be battling depression. I began to message her advice. She has struggled in the past but said she was presently stable.

What happened next surprised me. I received many comment that singled me out for showing a helpful, positive attitude toward someone in need. In a short time, the post received over 45 likes. I stopped checking after that.  Most people said that they were bothered by so many legalistic comments and it was refreshing to see someone show concern for another person.

This saddened me. Showing kindness. concern, and helpfulness to others should be the rule, not the exception. As Christians we are to be known for our love even when we don't understand why people do what they do.

ONE NEVER KNOWS

I saw another news report about the baby, Aniston Walker. As I wrote in my last blog post, the baby's death still haunts me. We are limited individuals. We don't know what's going on around us.

Sometimes I forget to stop, look about, and ask myself, "What's going on around me? How's the other guy's life?"

A few years ago I drove a route past one school to work at another. On my way to work, I regularly passed a particular crossing guard. She was a woman with a lot of pep, even early in the morning. Whether in the sunshine, rain, or frigid weather, she always had a smile on her face as she directed traffic.

I didn't suspect it at the time, but I later came to know that woman, and that all was not as it appeared.

That woman was a single mother raising two sons almost completely on her own. During that year I drove passed her on the way to work, her family lost their home and all their possessions in a flood. By the end of that year she was diagnosed with cancer.

--And all the while she smiled as she directed traffic before and after school.

I pray that I will be more sensitive, aware that those around me have needs. It may cause me to remember to say a prayer and offer a little kindness to those who cross my path.

Memorial on the Side of the Road

I drove by a local vegetable stand today. It was raining and as I passed by a small little memorial on the side of the road I felt particularly sad. You see, the memorial was for a baby, Aniston Walker. The baby went missing last winter. Her picture was all over social media. She looked so much like a Cabbage Patch Doll that I just fell in love with her picture. I cried and prayed that by some miracle the little baby Aniston would be found alive.

Weeks later the child was found. A motorcyclist parked on the side of the road by the vacant vegetable stand. The vegetable stand was closed for the winter and no one would be checking out the property for months. It just happened that while he waited for his friends to arrive, the motorcyclists glanced in the ditch and saw the decomposing body of the precious little girl.

I feel pensive whenever I pass that fruit stand and I drive that route regularly. What if the baby was still alive when she was tossed in the ditch like an empty Coke can? Did I drive past on the way to work and missed seeing her? Could I, or anyone else, have saved her life?

Realistically, I know she was probably dead before being tossed in that cold ditch. Had I seen her, I still couldn't have saved her.

 Still, it all makes me wonder how many people we pass in the course of a day that need our help. I hope I won't miss seeing the next one.

TV INTERVIEW--LOCAL MEMPHIS, LIVE

Here's a link to my TV interview on Local Memphis, Live, channel 24. You may need to scroll down to my name.

http://www.localmemphis.com/video/d/video/writers-worksop-toni-lamparter-mabry/5080609.

BUSY, BUSY

I've heard it said that a true writer never has any down time. Any free moment is spent writing, editing, or promoting. I believe that is true. Let me share a few events with you and ask for your prayers.

In the free time away from my day job, my 2nd book Red, White, & True is available for download from the Desert Breeze web site (http://www.desertbreezepublishing.com/brands/Toni-Lamparter-Mabry.html) and will eventually be released from Amazon, like A New Season. This is the second in the Friends of Scrapbook Etc. series.

Thursday, May 1, I'll be on the TV show, Local, Memphis Live--channel 24/30, sometime around 9:00 a.m.  I'll talk about writing and a local workshop I'm giving on Saturday morning at 10:00. The workshop will be at the Millington Library.

On May 15, one of my articles will appear in the magazine, STANDARD, a part of Word Action Publications. Yeah!

I would like to thank Ariel Dagastino for the PSA she made for Red, White, & True. You may use this link to view the video.

http://youtu.be/quR4-PBgk3Y

ANNOUNCEMENT--WRITING WORKSHOP

I am pleased to announce that I will be heading two Beginners Writing Workshops at the Millington, TN. The first workshop will be on Saturday, May 3, at 10:30 a.m. It is opened to anyone interested in writing and publishing.

The second workshop is geared specifically to teens and will be held on June 21, at 10:30 a.m. Teens interested in writing and being published are encouraged to attend.

I am looking forward to meeting others who love the written word and are interested in writing.

NEW RELEASE

Sammy thought the war would be over when he left Afghanistan. A new battle awaited when he returned home:
http://www.desertbreezepublishing.com/lamparter-mabry-toni/

My newest eBook--Red, White, and True is now available at the Desert Breeze website. Red, White, and True is an inspirational romance, the second in The Friends of Scrapbook Etc. series. When Sammy leaves the VA hospital he thinks it will be hard enough to learn to walk again, but PTSD threatens to destroy all the relationships he holds dear, especially his relationship with Karla.

SKIDDISH

For many months I have been trying to find homes for some stray dogs in our neighborhood. These dogs had homes when they were puppies. They've known what it's like to belong to families, to be abandoned, and they don't know how someone they've loved so much couldn't love them back.

I adopted a stray dog and wrote about how broken she was when she was abandoned. That dog became a minor character in my eBook, A NEW SEASON.

One of the female strays had puppies in the neighbor's shed. A home was found for the mother and her puppies. The father, a chow mix, had to be left behind, abandoned again.

Recently, I've come across a group that will adopt the chow that I've named Kato. The problem is, we need to confine him so he can be transported to his new foster.  Now that's a problem.  He has lived on his own for at least 2 winters. People have chased him out of their yards and treated him unkindly. It is difficult for Kato to trust humans.

So I've begun to feed him, often leaving him trails of food to my house. He follows, but at a great distance. As the Arctic blast approached, I worried about Kato and whether he could stand the freezing temperatures. Would he find shelter, food, or water among the ice? Still, he refused to allow me to catch him and take him to a new home.

A few days ago he scooted into my garage, snatching a dish of food, and ran away with it. I thought of how he would face the night in the cold, when he could have had a warm rug and shelter from the wind. I also though about people I've known in my past who've chosen the hard path to trod even when better options were available to them.

Maybe that's why I love dogs so much.  They seem so human.