Vultures remind me of my sister-in-law.

I simply can't help it. I can't get the thought out of my mind. Vultures remind me of my sister-in-law.

No-o-o-o. She doesn't look like a vulture. In fact she is one of those cute, perky, next door types that always has a smile and can do anything.

So why the vulture image? Well, her mind simply works in wondrous ways. Consider this: Her mother loved the smell of a skunk. (This family is very unique!) Though Mom left this world several years ago, every time we smell a skunk, we think of her. Seriously.

So to think of my sister-in-law when I see a vulture is not such a stretch! OK. There is more to this story. To protect her identity, I'll call her Joyce. Now Joyce loves all of God's creatures On the off chance that in some life she would return as something else (the game we all like to play), she would like to be a bird that soars.

So why not an eagle? Hawk? Osprey? Well, you would just have to know her heart. She could not survive as a soaring bird that kills another living creature. As a vulture she could soar high and still be useful by cleaning up someone else's mess.

After hearing her story I tried thinking of her as a pelican. They soar. They are family oriented. They are beautiful and funny at the same time. Well, I now seem to find vultures every place. Of course in the sky ... soaring. But they seem to be in TV commercials as well.

I guess it just makes sense. She wants to soar. She wants to keep the world clean and beautiful. But, Joyce, You already soar!

Now you know why vultures remind me of my sister-in-law.