Fezziwig

Browsing through my laptop files, I came across this photo of my first and only dog, Fezziwig (1999-2002). It was not my intention to get a dog back then; I was actually on the verge of buying my house at Pyrgos, when a family called to say that they had found 2 abandoned puppies and persuaded me to adopt one, now that I was moving to my house. At that time, we had just finished the production of Premiere's A Christmas Carol, so I duly named my new pet Fezziwig, after Ebeneezer Scrooge's employer.

Fezzi was a very clever and faithful dog. She was also stubborn, incredibly disobedient and very spoiled. But she quickly became a much-loved part of our extended family. Especially, grandma became very fond of her, often cooking a proper Armenian meal for 'Fezzig' before feeding the rest of us human 'igs'. During her short life, she (Fezzi, not my grandma) survived poisoning, lung infection, a fall from my truck (while I was speeding around a corner), and a summer camp with tons of children jumping all over her! Alas, she died suddenly and unexpectedly in my arms on March 11, 2002.

Once every few months, something triggers my memory and I miss Fezzi. However, the two-legged companion I have now more than makes up for any void she may have left. When I asked Anna recently whether she thought it would have been nice if Fezzi were still around, she reminded me of her asthma reaction to animals, but also echoed the words of another princess: "Well, I think three would have made our marriage a bit too crowded."

Holy Facebook!

Did young Jesus have many friends growing up? There is a clue: when his parents started making their way back from Jerusalem, it says that they "didn't miss him at first, because they assumed he was with friends among the other travelers." This unique 12-year-old boy seemed to mingle just as easily with his age group, as well as the elderly religious teachers at the temple.

Another clue, at the end of the same chapter: "He was loved by God and by all who knew him." So it seems quite reasonable that teenage Jesus had many friends and was quite popular among them.

Not sure what was cool and fashionable among the teens in those days, but if transported to today's era, I wonder if young Jesus would have had his own Facebook page. I think yes, and we would have probably been a bit surprised by what He would have had on it and the friends he chose to invite and accept!

Christmas Visiting Hours

Was reading the Christmas story again this morning and noticed something that had never occurred to me before. Both the shepherds and the wise men went back to their normal lives after meeting and worshiping baby Jesus. In Luke it says "The shepherds went back to their fields and flocks", and in Matthew, talking about the Wise Men, "...when it was time to leave, they went home another way."

We don't know whether they kept in touch with Joseph and Mary over the years. Did they every see Jesus again? Did their lives change? I would have thought that having come to the realization that this was the Son of God, they would have been reluctant to leave Him and go back to their routines. But I guess Bethlehem's makeshift maternity ward had strict visiting hours!