Wednesday, January 27, 2010

My Sister Is A Gift

My sister lives in Pennsylvania, three and a half hours away.  Besides the times that we get together and play, she is always, always, always here in times of need.  My step-dad has been near death for the past week and finally passed away.  When we called Robin she appeared.  She is strong and she is the glue that holds us together.  She is calm and she is smart and she is wise and she bridges all the gaps.  I'm the loud, and impatient sister.  I want my mom to get to the point and my sister allows my mom to get to the point when she's ready.  I do better when I'm working, not so good sitting by someone's side as they slip away.  My sister can do that, and she does.  We do this interesting dance of she doing what she does best and I doing what I do best.  My sister is such a gift, words cannot express how much I love her and how much I admire her and how much I appreciate her.  My sister is a gift. 

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Goodbye Herache

My step-dad passed away today.  We had an interesting relationship to say the least.  Suffice it to say, it was a relationship consisting of a lot of the drama that is inherent in some step-dad/step-daughter relationships.  That aside, I will always be grateful to Herache for this.......my own father was sick and dying from Cancer when I was 18.  My dad could no longer take care of himself and Herache agreed to let my dad come live with us.  My sister and my mom and I took care of my dad until the day he passed away.  Herache didn't have to agree to that, and I will forever be grateful to him that he did.  He allowed for my dad to pass away with dignity.  Today I am reminded of that and grateful for that, and I am grateful that Herache is no longer suffering.  Goodbye Herache.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Love & Loss

Today one of my very, very regular customers came in to our store.  I was cashing someone else out and my mom was putting the items in a bag, and we were chatting as usual, laughing, chatting, laughing and chatting.  Our "very regular" customer was waiting patiently for us to finish up with the other customer, and I could just tell that she wasn't quite right.  My mom noticed it too, I could tell.....we've been together for 43 years now, it's all pretty understood between us.  We finished with the previous customer and rang up an item for our "very regular" customer.  My mom said, "are you o.k.?", and I said, "you are not o.k., something is wrong".  She burst into tears and told us that her daughter's dog had passed away.  Her daughter had adopted her 4 or 5 years ago and now she was 12 and had had a stroke and passed.  Our customer was broken hearted, and as a mother was of course absorbing the pain of her daughter.  You can say all the things you're supposed to say, but it really doesn't matter, it's horrible to lose a pet.  We are dog lovers and know that pain.  Our customer proceeded to tell us that the vet came to her daughter's house and "took care" of the dog while she lay in her daughter's arms.  I admire that.  I don't know that I could do that.  I have my own dog, he's 12 years old now, I know he won't last forever, but I fear "that day".  I just don't think I can have him in my arms when that happens, that feeling will haunt me, I know it.  I worried about that today, whether or not that is selfish on my part, I still don't think I'll be able to do that.  I don't know, I guess it's just best to take it one day at a time and love my little gift while I have him and cross that bridge when it comes.  Our dogs definitely leave their pawprints on our hearts forever.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

A Sanctuary For Special Dogs

I was listening to the Today show this morning and I learned about this Sanctuary For Special Dogs.  I think what they do is wonderful, so I wanted to share the information.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

'Open'

I'm reading the new book by Andre Agassi, 'Open'.  It attracted me for the reason that many of us get caught up in the "what should be" for us, instead of really figuring out what we want and what choices we individually want to make and live by.  I also admire him for his foundation that he has set up and runs and the success rate that it has had.  It's really all so simple and just gets all complicated by all the red tape.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Cookie Party

So I was talking to my sister earlier this week.  She told me about a party that my grandnephew and grandniece went to.  A friend of my sister's had a "Cookie" party.  It was about 9 or 10 kids, 17 or so recipes, and my sister's friend had all the different cookie dough's made so that when the kids came, they rolled out the dough and cut out their cookies with cookie cutters and then decorated them etc.  Then, when the cookies were done, the kids had to grab a name out of a basket full of names, older people that they knew, disabled people, etc.  They wrapped up cookies for not only themselves, but for the person or persons whose name they picked.  Then, the next day, my sister, took my grandnephew and grandniece to deliver the cookies!  All the other kids and their significant others took them to the people whose name they picked!!  Imagine the smiles and the warm hearts..........all because of a good idea and some cookies :)

Blustery, Cold, Sunday Morning

When I woke up this morning I looked out the window and I starting thinking.  As I watched the light snow falling, and watched it spin around in the blustery wind, I lay there in my warm, cozy fleece-flannel sheets, with my little dog by my side and I thought: 'how fortunate and grateful I am to be safe and warm.  I imagined how sad it must be to be homeless in this weather, homeless and alone.  I am so very grateful for what I have.  Sure there are some things missing, but all I really need is right here.'

Then I watched the CBS Morning show as I usually do and I really enjoyed learning about a girl named Dafna Michelson.  In the midst of all the crazy bad news that we are bombarded with, she travels the united states looking for good people doing good deeds for good people in need.  Awesome!

And last but not least, what do I do on Saturday when there is a 1/2 hour left before we close the store and there are no customers??  I wrap my boy Tango up in my scarf, he indulges me, and looks at me as if to say: 'make yourself happy, take my picture, uh huh, ok, now take this scarf off! :)'




Saturday, January 2, 2010

Word For The Day

I love to learn new words.  Today I was reading and came across the word 'profligacy'.  I found the word in this quote: "Every generation has a challenge, and this, I think, is ours: to foot the bill for yesterday's profligacy - and to create instead an authentically, sustainably shared prosperity. -Umair Haque.  Profligate: -> adj. 1. Given over to immorality; dissolute.  2. Recklessly wasteful; extravagant. -> n. A profligate person.

'Bits & Pieces'

We get this little booklet in the mail called: "Bits & Pieces".  It's full of quips and quotes and short stories.  I was just reading through it and this quote caught my eye:  "If what others thought of you wasn't important-if the only thing that mattered was how your heart felt about your life-what would you be doing differently?" -Melody Beattie.  It's an interesting thought to ponder.  How many boundaries, self-imposed or otherwise, do we allow to impede our heart's desire?  What IS our heart's desire?  How important is what other people think or expect of us?