OPINION
4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2015
What
loving
Rosie
taught me
By MURIEL JENSEN
For The Daily Astorian
R
osie was a tuxedo cat who was aban-
doned somewhere down the street, and
joined the “tribe” of Spenser and Colby Jack,
our neighbors cats.
Steve and Barb (neighbors and friends)
live in a rehabbed Colonial that has no front
porch, so no shelter for the cats.
Because
everyone
visits a lot in our neigh-
borhood, sits on every-
one else’s steps or porch
to chat, the cats proba-
bly ¿ gured they had the
same rights. Spenser, a
long-haired tuxedo, and
Colby Jack (named after
the cheeses for his col-
ors) slept in a cozy pile
Muriel Jensen
on the wicker rocking
chair on our front porch
when it rained — or just when they needed a
good rest.
One day, I noticed a third cat in the pile. I
put out another plate of food, another bowl of
water. Barb said she thought the cat’s name
was Rosie, and that she’d been left when her
people moved.
It was soon clear to see why she’d been
left behind if her owners had adopted her for
the love she would give them. Rosie was a
total ingrate. We fed her for 12 years and she
apparently never felt grateful, never learned
to trust us, never gave us an inkling that she
appreciated the care and concern. I kept
thinking, “Tomorrow, she’s going to respond
to me.”
She lived out there until February, then
Eventually, we concluded she proba-
bly wasn’t in her right mind. But she loved one cold night I was going downstairs with
laundry and found her curled
Spenser and Colby Jack, and
up on the basement step. I
the tight little unit they made
on the rocker.
Rosie was made a bed for her inside,
brought her food in, and she
a total
ast year Colby died, fol-
stayed there through the win-
lowed fairly closely by
ter. At the end of May, she
ingrate.
Spenser. They were both in
moved onto the rocker on
their late teen years — a good
the porch again, very thin but
life for a cat. We mourned them and I felt seeming to be comfortable.
fairly certain Rosie would just die of lone-
As summer wore on, it became clear she
liness. But she lived on, though she began to was dying — whether it was from old age or
look pretty frail. Taking her to the vet was illness, I’m not sure. We had no idea how old
not an option because she never, ever let me she was. I was determined to let her die on her
touch her. I was sure forcing her into a box own terms, but it became harder and harder
would kill her before old age did. So I lined to watch her become even thinner. Early in
a box with À eece, covered it in plastic, and August, I decided we’d give her the rest of
prepared her for the winter on our porch.
the summer because she really did seem to
W riter’s
N otebook
L
love those puddles of sunshine on the porch,
then I’d ¿ nd a way to catch her and get her
to the vet. Our vet will sedate the pet and let
you hold it while he puts it to sleep. I made a
mental deadline of Sept. 1.
T
hat day was a Sunday. I came home from
Mass, she was sitting in her chair, and
I reached down to scratch her between the
ears. And she let me! That had never hap-
pened. I was amazed and thought, “Finally!
Progress!” I went in to get her food and when
I came out she was gone. Sure she’d followed
me into the house, I went back inside to look
around for her. I never found her, and she
never came home.
I cried for days. I wanted her loneliness
and her suffering to be over, but I wanted to
hold her while she went on her way. I felt
gypped.
Then it occurred to me, that that was what
I wanted, but it was Rosie’s life. She’d found
a way to survive when she’d been abandoned,
and she’d become one tough cookie. It’s hard
to know what was going on in her mind, but
survival apparently involved depending on
herself and no one else.
That made me think about love. Romantic
love, of course, has to be reciprocal, or you
couldn’t live every moment with each other
and raise children, unless you were getting
back from the other person all the love you
put into the relationship. But love of other
people and love of animals, doesn’t have to
be returned to be effective. Often, we love be-
cause what we get back makes us feel good,
appreciated. But in the cases where you don’t
get that, it doesn’t really matter. Love does
what it does anyway. We gave Rosie a home
and kept her going until the last minute. If she
related to me at all, it was that moment when
she let me scratch her head.
Also, about love. In de¿ ance of all sci-
ence, love is the one thing that doesn’t leave
an empty space when you give it away. More
love takes its place, ¿ lls you up, gives you
more than you had before.
That’s what loving Rosie taught me.
Astoria resident Muriel Jensen has published
more than 70 books and novellas
Open forum
Keep state money out
R
egarding the recent debate about taxpayer
dollars going to religious organizations in
Warrenton: The Oregon constitution is clear on
this issue (“Church and state,” The Daily Astorian,
July 24). Section 5 of the Bill of Rights reads “No
money shall be drawn from the Treasury for the
bene¿ t of any religious or theological institution,
nor shall any money be appropriated for the pay-
ment of any religious services in either house of
the Legislative Assembly.”
The reasoning behind this amendment is that
the framers were aware that religion does best
when it supports itself. They were aware that
churches dependent on the state for funding be-
come lethargic and run the risk of losing their pro-
phetic voices.
Religion does best when it is supported by
voluntary contributions. Privately raised money
preserves the independence of religious groups
and increases congregational vitality. Government
funding inevitably brings regulation and threatens
the integrity of religion. None of this is in the best
interest of faith groups or the taxpayers.
Government neutrality with respect to religion
is the best policy. Let’s stick with it.
ED JOYCE
Astoria
Accusations trump fairness
I
have waited for the justice system to run its
course before publicly commenting on the case
of Mick Mitchell and the child abuse accusations
leveled against him. From the beginning, I have
been very disappointed in the unfairness of many
of our local institutions.
The district attorney’s of¿ ce inÀ ated the accusa-
tions at every opportunity, originally charging him
with crimes that could have resulted in over 300
years of prison. Even after the most serious of the
charges were dropped, they continued to use the
blunt sledgehammer of a “choice” between the pos-
sibility of spending 180 years in prison with a trial,
or taking a plea for 60 days of alternative sanctions.
The fact that the district attorney was willing
to settle for a couple months over the original 300
years speaks to the weakness of their case. Not
once was Mitchell given an opportunity in court to
tell his side of the story.
The Daily Astorian was very happy to sen-
sationalize his case on the front page, but as the
charges were lessened, their interest waned. For
the most part, The Daily Astorian served only as a
one sided narrative for the district attorney’s of¿ ce.
To this day, they are deleting online comments in
support of Mitchell on their website. They never
once asked him for his side of the story.
His employer, the Astoria Co-Op, summarily
¿ red him when the charges were ¿ led and to add
insult to injury, trespassed him from his workplace
of over 16 years. He was never asked for his side
of the story.
I completely understand the horrendous nature
of the accusations that were made against him, and
the sensitivity that must be exercised in child abuse
cases, but these were accusations that Mitchell
was never given a fair chance to defend himself
against. Any honest attempt to get at the truth of
the matter would have involved interviewing the
alleged criminal, investigating his background,
and speaking with character witnesses. This never
happened.
It is the blatant unfairness of the process that
discourages me. Some will say he got off easy. If
being bankrupted, losing your career, being of¿ -
cially labeled as a sex offender and having to spend
nearly a year being an exile in your own town is
getting off easy, then we all now know what 19
years of working and living in this community is
worth once a ¿ nger is pointed at you.
I believe he is entirely innocent of the charges,
but my point is about fairness. If he can be accused
of this crime, and have his life and reputation de-
stroyed, then any one of us is vulnerable. Is some-
body going to stand up for fairness when the ¿ nger
is pointing at you?
JACK HARRIS
Astoria
Support the festival
M
y dear and beloved Astorians: First, I want
to tell you that my love to you, the people
and the town of Astoria, hopefully, has proved it-
self over the years. It continues to grow, and the
community of Astoria has a very special place in
my heart, and my life, both personally and musi-
cally.
The recent events at the Astoria Music Festival
are breaking my heart (“Music Festival directors
resign in dispute,” The Daily Astorian, July 21).
The festival, our beautiful, amazing and incredi-
ble gem of art that was growing for 13 years, de-
veloping and embracing the community like I’ve
never seen before — having traveled all over the
world and having played hundreds of festivals —
is shaken by unseen and unforeseen events.
Reading the recent article released in The Dai-
ly Astorian, I ask you, the people, the supporting
force of the festival, the ground that the festival’s
feet are standing, only one question: If the things
are so bad behind the scenes, why do all of us, the
musicians, keep coming back to Astoria? Why do
we keep following Keith Clark’s leadership? Why,
according to the words of the president of the
board, was this year’s festival the most successful
out of 13? Isn’t it about the music? What do you
want to get out of your tickets to the concert?
My long string of thoughts resulted in this
small letter to all of you. I have too much to say to
¿ t in any paper about this. I dearly love all of you
and I dearly love the festival. It’s yours. It’s for all
of you. I will support the festival and the direction
of the festival as I have for all these years.
I will not make any comments on the recent ar-
ticle, since we are all free to express our opinions. I
ask all of you to listen to your hearts, as we all do
on stage for all of you. I’ve never felt so strong-
ly about expressing my opinion, and making this
opinion public.
I love all of you. We will continue bringing
music to Astorians no matter what. Nobody, no
way, can take it away from us. We will keep the
festival going, but we need your support.
There’s no court, there’s no ball and no sides.
We all want to make beautiful music and keep the
festival going strong. We will not keep you wait-
ing, and will be back in Astoria making beautiful
music with the amazing artists from around the
world.
The situation is bad, and I feel that I can speak
up openly about people I care about and the festival
I love. My life would not be the same without it.
With all my warmest wishes,
Always yours,
SERGEY ANTONOV
New York
Where to write
• U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D):
2338 Rayburn HOB, Washington, D.C.,
20515. Phone: 202- 225-0855. Fax 202-
225-949. District of¿ ce: 1225 SW
Millikan Way, Suite 220, Beaverton, OR
97005. Phone: 503-469-6010. Fax 503-
326-5066. Web: bonamici.house. gov/
• U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D): 313 Hart
Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C.
20510. Phone: 202-224-3753. Web: www.
merkley.senate.gov
• U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D): 221 Dirk-
sen Senate Office Building, Washington,
D.C., 20510. Phone: 202-224-5244. Web:
www.wyden.senate.gov
• State Rep. Brad Witt (D): State Cap-
itol, 900 Court Street N.E., H-373, Salem,
OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1431. Web:
www.leg.state.or.us/witt/ Email: rep.brad-
witt@state.or.us
• State Rep. Deborah Boone (D): 900
Court St. N.E., H-481, Salem, OR 97301.
Phone: 503-986-1432. Email: rep.deborah
boone@state.or.us District office: P.O. Box
928, Cannon Beach, OR 97110. Phone:
503-986-1432. Web: www.leg.state.or.us/
boone/
• State Sen. Betsy Johnson (D): State
Capitol, 900 Court St. N.E., S-314, Salem,
OR 97301. Telephone: 503-986-1716.
Email: sen.betsy johnson@state.or.us Web:
www.betsyjohnson.com District Office: P.O.
Box R, Scappoose, OR 97056. Phone: 503-
543-4046. Fax: 503-543-5296. Astoria office
phone: 503-338-1280.
STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher • LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager
• CARL EARL, Systems Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
• DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager
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