Newsletter – January 23, 2026
It’s very cold outside in the Midwest. I hope it’s less severe where you are.
Our outdoor cats have us worrying over them when they don’t show up for 48 hours to eat. Tabitha, the mother, finally showed up on Saturday. Then Rocket, one of her kittens from last spring, apparently went into heat because I chased off a large tomcat who was stalking her. The next day she was nowhere to be seen. She came back the day after.
That mother/daughter pair had been sharing warmth in the little cat house we set up for them, but they seem to have abandoned that cozy nook. Meanwhile the temperatures dropped into the single digits. Yikes!
So I’m entering the doors to the track at the Wellness Center and I hold the door for a young mother carrying her baby in a carseat. After my first circle around the track I see her again, cradling her infant while taking a slow walk. She looked like the drawing above but with an infant half that size.
Two weeks old? Three, I was guessing. It’s been a few years since my daughter was that size.
The mother/daughter pair were the very definition of motherhood and she shared a smile with me as my face reflected that thought. Watching them warmed my heart and reminded me of the kindly looks I got standing in the aisle of an airplane, bouncing my infant daughter on a cross-country flight.
Something in all of us, I thought, wants to keep that infant protected and cherishes those who do.
TTFN
P.S. I’m careful to credit any photos I use in this newsletter to give due credit. In checking the URL of the artwork above, their ending of “.co” is correct. It’s freekidscoloringpages.co (If you try to change it to “.com” it won’t work.)
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This just in…
A fellow named John Raccio posted that on the Baby Boomers account of Facebook. I thought it’d be funny to share in light of last week’s newsletter.
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Eric Margerum 