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He’s 16, and he has liver and kidney problems as well as food allergies. The liver problems cause him not to feel like eating most types of food, like how people feel after they’ve had the stomach flu. His weight, once 12 to 13 pounds, has gone down to under eight pounds.

What do you feed an old, sick cat that wants to eat but can’t eat most food? He went off of cat food a few weeks ago. He doesn’t like anything with beef in it. He loves fish, but he’s allergic to it.

The answer: chicken — and dog food. For some reason, lamb dog chow appeals to him. And when I run out of cooked chicken, he parks himself between my computer and the kitchen so that he’ll know when some is ready again.

He may not be getting the perfect nutritional mix for his needs, but my priorities for him are keeping him hydrated, eating, medicated, and happy. At his age and with his health, everything else is secondary.

I heard about it on a radio talk show this morning. The Freecycle Network™, at www.freecycle.org, is an organization that helps people get and give away items for free. At this site, you can find a group in your area and then join a Yahoo group for it. If you have something to give away, you post about it. If you want something that’s being given away, you contact the person offering it or follow the instructions. The person offering something can choose who to give it to or just state that it’ll be available for the taking at a specific place and time.

From the home page:

When you want to find a new home for something — whether it’s a chair, a fax machine, piano, or an old door — you simply send an e-mail offering it to members of your Freecycle group.

Or, maybe you’re looking to acquire something yourself. Simply respond to a member’s offer, and you just might get it. After that, it’s up to the giver to decide who receives the gift and to set up a pickup time for passing on the treasure.

One main rule: Everything posted must be free, legal, and appropriate for all ages.

I think the idea is brilliant.

This link was posted in a forum discussion recently: In coma for 2 years, patient says he heard all.

Excerpt:

“The doctors said that I wasn’t conscious, but I understood everything and I cried in desperation,” Crisafulli was quoted as saying in Italian media on Wednesday.

I’m trying to imagine the pain of only being able to lie motionless and listen for two years. To hear people around you talk about you instead of to you. To hear doctors say that your situation is hopeless. To realize that you might die like that, or — even worse? — to live like that for many years.

I’m trying to imagine the untellable relief of waking up from that.

Years ago, a life-long friend of mine was in a coma for several days before he died. Eddie had been in his 60s when I got to know him as a child. He owned the horse farm where I spent as much of my childhood as possible, and I stayed in touch with him as an adult. He died on his 90th birthday.

I visited him twice in the hospital when he was in a coma. We sat there and talked about him, about good memories, and about other things, wondering if he could hear us. When we left, Margaret (his long-time companion) said, “Good night, Eddie,” and I did the same.

He might have heard us.

As usual when someone is leaving or has a baby or another momentous event happens, the teachers signed a card and chipped in for a gift certificate. This time, it was my turn to be the recipient. I know that Nicole was the one who got everyone to sign it because she always does that kind of thing (thanks, Nicole!), and she also collected the money for the gift certificate. Some people always put in only $2 and the others “tusk, tusk” them, while other people put in more, depending on how well they know the recipient. It always works that way.

Nicole gave me a gift just from herself in addition to the group gift, and Ron gave me a card just from him. Nicole has a beautiful heart, and so does Ron, who I shared classes with for the past year or so. It was because he also wanted to split a class that I was able to teach only part-time. Our teaching partnership worked very well, and it led to another work-related friendship.

I couldn’t read most of the card comments when they gave me the cards. Leaving a 15-year job is an emotional time, and I needed to spread out the emotion.

Tonight, I read the comments. I was surprised at how people remembered ways I’d helped them years ago, events that I’d almost forgotten. The warmth and good wishes made me almost cry.

They’re still my friends, and I’ll still see them occasionally when I substitute teach.

It affected more than one country. In a bigger way, it affected people around the world. But it’s more real when you can focus on one person.

Recently I did some writing work for a client in Pakistan. He was a good guy, and I enjoyed getting to know him a bit. When the earthquake hit in his area, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I emailed him, wondering what to think if he didn’t respond, and…he did respond.

He told me how so many people are seeking help but that his country didn’t have the resources to help them. Some villages and cities were completely demolished, he wrote. People were lying under the rubble. His whole country was in pain and agony.

I wrote back telling him that the disaster is getting a lot of media coverage in North America and that people are donating to the Red Cross and other organizations that can help. A lot of people from Pakistan live in my city, I told him, and they’re praying a lot and organizing a fund-raising event.

He appreciated knowing that people cared for them. “Just pray for us,” he asked.

We can also donate:

• Canadian Red Cross
• American Red Cross