“Ode
to Jasmine the cat”
Late
spring, or early summer 2001-Nov. 5, 2005
Pen
Argyl, PA
By
Bahereh
Our
dearest friends, it is with great sadness that we must bring you the
sad news
that our faithful and beautiful cat, Jasmine, is no longer with us.
Our
beautiful Jasmine the CAT fell sick all of a sudden on the morning of
Saturday,
Nov. 5, 2005. Strangely enough, she came down the steps in her normal
self as I
got up early that morning to get ready to go to do an art show. She
came down as
her real self, meaning that she came down the steps as if a real person
was
coming down. That was her! Perhaps she was human in her past life, who
knows!
She looked fine, and went to the fountain in the living room and drank
some
water. Shortly after, Sienna Mae got up and came downstairs, and almost
in no
time she called me and said that there is something wrong with Jasmine,
I did
not know what to make of it. Walter and I went to look at the cat; she
was on
top of the basement steps, came to the living room, sat at the corner
and
started trembling miserably. We did not know what to think. Walter put
her in a
cat carrier, and tried to reach the Vet. in the area. It was too early
and there
was no answer. Walter told me that I should get ready to go and to do
my show,
and he and Sienna will make an appointment at the Vet. for Jasmine.
So
I got ready, came downstairs, and went to Jasmine to say good- bye for
the day.
I touched her gently and I said to her; “ what’s wrong little girl?”
She was mewing back; I could feel that she was in extreme pain,
and I
felt helpless.
YOU said your last good-bye Jasmine!
Anyway, I left thinking about her all the way to the show. I
called from
there shortly after I got to the show, and Walter said that Jasmine
seems to be
doing a little better, and they have made her appointment and will go
to the
Vet. shortly. Then in less than an hour Walter called me and told me
the sad
news: Jasmine died!
Now,
Jasmine, you are buried in our yard next to our dear canary Rumi,
the bird who died on Sept. 12, 2000. Walter and Sienna Mae who
loved you
so much were the ones who buried you in the yard. I heard that Sienna
wrote a
short ode to you, a note of asking you to come back to her someday, and
she
buried you with her own hands, and she buried you along with your
favorite toy,
Sienna’s favorite toy from pre-school years, Zippiti the Seal. You
loved this
toy so much, and you would find it among so many other toys and you
would bring
it down the steps to play with it! Now this toy is yours forever!
So
today is a sad day for us, yet we are grateful for a little over 4
years that we
had you, Jasmine, in our lives. You were joyous, beautiful, and
delightful. You
brought joy to our lives. I remember your coming to my bed every
morning kissing
my face until I would wake up. You had a habit of sniffing our hair and
at times
we would get tired of you being a pest! Not really! Any how, although
at times
you were a little annoying, yet we loved you as who you were, nutty,
playful,
and last and not least the way you moved around, you sounded as if a
human being
was walking in our hall ways and up and down the steps. At times when I
was home
by myself, you would startle me by the way you moved around, many a
time it
sounded as if a real person was walking around the house, and I would
come to
where the sound was coming from and there was no-one to be seen except
you! We
often joked that you must have been a human in your past life! The 1st
year we had you at the house, I remember spring came and you kept on
trying to
get out and smell the roses I guess! We found you on top of the front
door, and
we even have a picture of you on top of the door!
Today
is a sad day for our family, for Walter, Sienna Mae, and me and even
for your
old playmate, Daisy the CAT!
We
miss all the virtues you, Jasmine, possessed, and we long to
possess. You
will be remembered, and cherished by us for a long long time, and our
memories
of you will stay with us forever!
We know that simply getting another cat will not, and cannot replace
you,
Jasmine, but we hope that at the right time another female cat will
come our way
and warm our hearts, and no doubt we will tell her all the fond
memories we have
from our sweet mischievous Jasmine. Then the new cat will know what a
wonderful
funny and happy cat she can be!
Oh Jasmine, we will never forget you. We celebrate the life you lived,
a life
full of joy and happiness! We love you so much! I can’t believe that
the tears
are running down my face, and I can’t stop it! How can I sit in front
of the
computer and not having you jumping on my lap, and on the keyboard or
on top of
the desk with the computer and printer on it! You were fun and behaved
just like
a kid, like a very young playful toddler. And your beauty mark was the
talk in
the neighborhood!
Dearest
Jasmine, we are very glad that your sweet gentle spirit will live in
our hearts
always. May you rest in peace! We will visit you at your graveside in
our yard
often.
Love,
Bahereh, Walter, Sienna Mae, and your old playmate, Daisy the Cat! We are really grateful that our 10 years old cat, Daisy is still with us! He has been with us for 10 years through thin and thick. We love to have your energy around!
----------------------------------------------------------------
“Ode to Mrs. Edwards who spoke the limitless language of love & kindness”
by Bahereh
May
12, 2005
Pen Argyl, PA
A Treasure is Lost, A Language
of
Kindness and Love is left behind. Perhaps this is Mrs. Edwards Legacy,
a lesson
left for all of us to ponder upon, and to learn from, and hopefully to
do our
best to continue in her path.
My family and I were blessed
for so many
years for knowing her, now I am sitting in my home and I feel her loss,
I miss
her terribly. Our friendship started shortly after my family and I
moved to the
town of Pen Argyl over 12 years ago. She was born in the house that I
live, so
that added to my relationship with her.
Her life and her legacy can be
summed up
in the language she spoke. It was her language that attracted me to her
in the
first place. She spoke the familiar language that my late beloved
mother spoke,
the limitless language of love & kindness, a beautiful language
that knows
no boundaries. Over the years she showered me, my husband, and
especially my
daughter with her gentle kindness, not only year after year, but even
after her
passing. She knows how to work it out even after her passing to the
next world,
in a magical way, through her wonderful children that she and her late
husband
raised in this area. She often spoke proudly of her 3 children and
their
families, and now it was her dear daughter who came to my door
yesterday to give
me two envelopes, one was a thank you card for my family and I, and the
other
one was for my 15 years old daughter, Sienna Mae. How thoughtful of
her. The
card to Sienna Mae was a graduation card with an enclosed gift for her
future
graduation. We were all filled with emotions, and we were in tears of
gratitude
and blessedness of knowing her.
I had the honor of being this
lady’s
neighbor, and I have been indeed lucky to live so near such a beautiful
soul.
Mrs. Edwards had taught the world some little life nugget that shapes
one’s
life, mainly by deeds rather than words. What a privilege for any one
who had
the opportunity of knowing her. May we all follow in her footsteps.
She handled life and everything
in it
with utmost dignity and pride. I
witnessed her day in and day out to handle her late husband’s illness
and her
own illness with such dignity and graciousness. She handled the death
of her
husband, Mr. Walter Edwards, who passed away a couple of months earlier
with
great dignity.
May the lasting memories of our
beloved
mothers & fathers stay with us forever.
Good-bye my HEARTizen friend.
May you rest in Peace!
Bahereh
Pen
Argyl, PA
P.S. A dear friend is gone, a beautiful house is left behind. The house is on the market now.
----------------------------------------------------------------
“The earth is but
one country and
mankind its citizens”
______________
“I Wish to be a
Root
Less
HEART
izen”
<>2006
ry and mankind its
citizens”
I love the
roots that I come from, my roots are deep rooted in the
in my beloved
country of
Who Am I?
Am I an
Iranian/ a Persian?
Am I an
American?
Am I an
Iranian American?
In
Summer 1979, I came to
simply a foreigner.
A
few years later, I
became a permanent resident of the
my Green Card
based on Religious Asylum.
So,
who am I
now?! Am I simply an Alien? I mean a Legal Alien with a card
to prove it! A
card that is called: a Green Card, but oddly enough it is not even
Green!
Am I an Alien?
Or am I a Rootless Alien?
Why are you called an Alien?
Isn’t it
that you are considered Root Less in your
new land?!
However, I am always 1st
an
Iranian in my heart; but I must admit that I am
grateful for the positive
experiences I have had here, too. I think of myself more
of an
Iranian-American. So, my country is the land of the HEARTS.
As a HEARTizen (I wish to be
one!),
anywhere life beckons me, is HOME. Yet,
I cannot deny my special love for where
I was born and raised,
Usually when I say “my country”, I mean
country of the
Have
I ever
had Roots?
Perhaps I did,
whatever was holding me up was considered my Roots!
But
were there
really my Roots, or were there the roots of my beloved parents
that so lovingly
were holding my branches up?
Whatever
they
were, today I don’t care where I live, and I don’t know where is
the right
place for me to live!
Perhaps
I have
acquired so much Roots that I have become Rootless!
I
can live
anywhere today, and I proudly consider myself a Citizen of the
HEART! Therefore
I declare to be A Rootless Alien HEARTizen!
I can adapt to
many situation just because I have learned to carry my roots
in my HEART! These
are the roots that keep on adding, and keep on flowering
because I have known
many friends along the way!
I
CELEBRATE
LIFE, and
I
feel
blessed! Although I am Root Less,
I
can’t believe I just said that word
again!
Not
that I don’t believe in it,
Rather
afraid that that people might
think that
I
mean Rootless!
You see the difference
is in being Root
Less as opposed to being Rootless!
However, I can take pride in
being Root
Less,
Or may be not taking Pride,
rather in
being comfortable in being Root Less,
Meaning that I feel like the
kind of a
plant or a tree that can be easily
transplanted
in a new land, in a new soil, in its next home if you wish!
I am not only a Persian/
Iranian
offspring; I am a Human/ HuWoman being!
I am, or better to say, I wish
to be a
Root Less HEART izen!
Do I have Roots?,
Of course I do!
But are they My Roots?
Are they the Roots of my
parents that have always held my branches?
Are they
your roots? Are they American Roots?
Are they Persian Roots? Are
they… Roots?
Does not matter?
Because no matter what? I have
roots! I have acquired some roots
over the
years that I call them the Roots of Humanity or in my case
HuWomanity!:-)
Are they HEART Roots?
That is all that matter to me,
To have so much roots that one
can become Root Less,
But not any Root Less, rather
a HEARTizen Root Less!
______________
----------------------------------------------------------------
BACK TO OTHER BAHEREH'S WRITINGS
CLAY ART by Bahereh | CLAY ART by Walter Heath | Home Page | About the Artists | Writings
(610)863-3362
Mailing Address: 423 Mountain Ave. Pen Argyl, Pa. 18072
please send e-mail to: bahereh@HEARTizen.com