Wednesday, February 17, 2010

cute

Just a visual update =D

This is Sid our Green Cheeked Amazon that hangs out with us in the office


He's checking me out...he's not too sure about the camera

Now he's standing guard against Ruby. He doesn't really care for her =(

Ruby showing our ACE kids our Black Brazillian Tarantula.

Cheese!! End of class...you did great, guys =D

Thursday, February 11, 2010

A Valentines Special

I was recently told this story about one of the couples at my house church. I've been saving it for this time of year and once you read...you'll know why.
To protect identies and whatnot I shall call them Bob and Betty.
(Now put this on in the background while you read this

Clannad - I Will Find You {Theme from .mp3
Found at bee mp3 search engine


Bob and Betty had been childhood sweethearts that had grown to high school. Typical fashion in those times was to marry your sweetheart soon after you graduted and before the boy went to college. Or promises were exchanged and they'd tie the knot after he had his degree. Satisfied to wait they held tight to dreams of a future together for there was no one else who could take each other's place in their lives. But the war changed things.

Yes WWII

While he was at war in Germany they lost touch. As simple as that. She was realistic in the knowlege that the chances of him coming back were slim to none and when communication stopped between them she moved on. No matter how logical she tried to be her heart still broke thinking that her Bob wouldn't be coming back and they wouldn't be sharing the life together they'd dream up when they were innocents in high school. She married and started a life on her own and when he came home he didn't come back to Missouri but instead the Carolinas. He married as well and they continued living very separate lives.

Betty's husband died of heart failure a few years after they were married but being the resiliant woman she survived. Years passed and once again she felt the stirrings of the heart and married again. But still, no one could yet compare to that special love she and Bob had shared when they were young.

Years and years passed. Bob's wife died and he considered himself done for when it came to finding another lady to fill her shoes. Comforted by friends and family he felt quite at ease with life the way it was. One day he got a call from a dear friend of his back in Missouri. Not too sure why but he made the trip back to good ol' Missouri but he did. Donna, a friend of his who had married a man by the name of Carl, finally tracked him down to make introductions. They'd corresponded through letters and phone calls over the years and she wanted to see him before he left town again.

Getting together one night Carl's sister stopped by, her husband was in the hospital with a heart condition, and she (I guess) was lonely and thought to visit her only surviving brother. Carl and Bob ended up knowing each other from the war and were talking about past times when Bob looked up at the unexpected visitor.

Can you guess who she was? Yes...Betty. After over 40 years of not seeing one another they'd finally met again. But she was married still and though they were happy to see each other again they both knew nothing could ever come from it.

Years past and they kept in touch through their similar contacts. When Betty's second husband passed Bob was there to comfort her. They kept their relationship on hold until she was through mourning the loss of another husband who's heart was too weak. Sadly, because they both had two separate lives (On in MO the other in SC) they really didn't see how they could make everything work. Bob had to go back to South Carolina one day and she would have to move on in her own life. A war had been what separted them before and now it seemed like time and family would be the cause for the second.


But they knew they couldn't fight destiny. They had finally found each other's first love and they weren't about to let go, not again. They got remarried, with their family's blessings, and now spend every day (except their holidays) together thankful for the other.

Now in their late 70's they sit next to each other at church. I can hear whispers and laughter between songs of worship. I think they're making up for all the lost time they had apart and my heart simply overflows with happiness.

I'm not a sentimental person. I see myself as more of a realist but I find it nothing short of a miracle that these two people, who had been each other's first loves, found each other again after so many years. Though they'd both led separate lives they'd still been a part of each other's memories and their hearts never forgot.



So this Valentines Day I won't mourn over the fact that I have no sweet heart to share the day with. No, because by their story alone I know that God has someone out there for me and he's missing me just as much as I'm missing him. Two separate lives that will one day come together.


Lyrics to the song