Catherine Greenfeder

Murphy

By • July 31, 2019
Murphy celebrated his birthday on April 1st.

… more than a pet

He came to us as an eight week old rescue, a mixed Black Labrador retriever, and a “replacement” pet for Maxi, the Yellow Labrador who died months earlier. I resisted getting another dog until a co-worker, animal lover herself, who noticed how much I grieved over Maxi, kept hounding me to get a dog. I felt that if I do get another dog, it would be a mixed breed but mostly Labrador and a puppy. I also wanted to rescue a dog.

So, in the Spring of 2008, I began to search websites, pet adoption days at Petco and other places, and still no dog. I came across an ad for a Black Labrador retriever, and within a week, I found our puppy through a dog rescue in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.

Murphy came to us in June 2008. He had been a rescue from somewhere in North Carolina, emaciated, and filled with worms. We took him in, got him healthier, and he thrived with a bit of TLC.

Although initially we took him for training at the Petco obedience dog training school, it was Murphy who “trained us”. Over the years, eleven of them, we bonded with Murphy. He also gave us a lot of love, loyalty, laughter, and purpose. In addition, he welcomed everyone to our home even if they didn’t like dogs as much as we did.

This month we learned that Murphy’s time with us would soon end. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer. It had spread from his liver to his lungs, and there was nothing the vets could do to save him. We had to bid our final and sad farewell to him at the animal hospital. I experienced a similar pain of grief with my last dog, Maxi, and it is never easy.

Now I understand why people have so-called therapy dogs or cats or parrots or whatever. They provide so much — unconditional love, companionship, and protection — they truly are therapy.

I will miss you, Murphy! May you rest in peace!

Walking most evenings with Murphy was a pleasure.

    Tea and Sympathy

    By • February 10, 2019

    I am a tea drinker. Oh, I enjoy my morning coffee, but I drink more tea than coffee.

    My favorites are Earl Grey, Chai, and Jasmine teas. I also enjoy lemon with ginger, green teas, and cinnamon teas.

    The habit began in my childhood. Having an Irish grandmother who consumed a fair amount of tea in her time, I was introduced to tea before I ever tried coffee. Nanny Smith lived with my family on Staten Island, and it became our ritual to drink afternoon tea together. I would come home from school, and I would make us both a cup of tea and chat about our day. Usually, we drank Lipton tea which she bought at the A&P in New Dorp.

    Plus, we had the occasional cookies or bakery goods that had been delivered by the Holterman’s bakery nearby.Those were special times. Generally, we had crackers or buttered toast or tea by itself.

    Tea with milk and sugar seemed the cure-all for colds, chills, fever, and the winter blues.

    The idea of a coffee hour came in my late teens when I had a summer job at a bank where the entire office stopped at mid-morning for a coffee break. At that time, I worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and it was a welcome respite to pause after counting checks to have a cup of coffee, a snack of some kind, and chat awhile. Coffee began to replace my tea in the morning and at midday. Yet, I still had my tea sometime during the day.

    Over the year, I had the opportunity to travel, and I learned that tea is a favored drink in many countries especially in Ireland, land of my maternal ancestors. My first trip to the Erin isle proved fun and one of an inordinate amount of tea consumption as there was tea in the morning, tea with lunch, tea in the late afternoon, and tea after dinner. Tea and sympathy is an expression that rings true as it was often over tea that stories were told, condolences made, and friendships rekindled.

    I drank mint tea in a glass in Tangiers, tea and crumpets in Bermuda, afternoon tea with sandwhiches in London, a Victorian tea in Cape May, New Jersey, and a variety of teas elsewhere. I still drink the type of tea which my maternal grandmother favored, Lipton, and I think of those times we had long ago.

     

     

     

    Artsy in Other Ways

    By • January 14, 2019

    Maybe it was the influence of my childhood in Greenwhich Village where I attended a pottery school at age seven and enjoyed browsing the art exhibits at Washington Square Park  or maybe it was the times that I stayed home from school due to a serious bout with brochial asthma and spent hours sketching and coloring, but there has always been the artist in me. I did a lot more drawing and painting in my youth, and I minored in art in high school, but I veered away as I entered the work force. Instead I used my “leisure time” to write poety, short stories, and eventually novels. After time in the business world, I returned to college to pursue graduate studies in education. I became a teacher of language arts, but still I pursued the arts by creating stained glass objects, decorating, and writing.

    When the local adult school offered art classes, I took up drawing and watercolor. There is much to be said for the connections I make with my writing and art. Both require observing one’s world and draw upon experiences. I believe that using that type of creativity with my art enriches my writing, and vice versa. Three of my novels, Angels Among Us, A Kiss Out of Time, and A Dance Out of Time feature artists as the protagonists, and I somehow work in artsy types in my stories. A recent trip to the Montclair Art Museum inspired a story which I plan to finish writing this summer. So, I will continue to dabble and to draw and to paint and to be “artsy” in other ways.

     

    Meet the Author

    Catherine Greenfeder

    Catherine Greenfeder

    Romance Novelist

    My Books

    Wildflowers

    Angels Among Us

    Sacred Fires

    A Kiss Out of Time, a Georginas Ghost Story

    A Dance Out of Time, a Georginas Ghost Story

    © 2025 Catherine Greenfeder.  All Right Reserved.