Searching For The Positive - 8/15/2007)

Wow...its been a while! It light of all that has been going on - in light of all the things that could wrap me in a sense of despair...I decided to take a different path...I am attempting to see the positive!

Recently I received an email from a friend that detailed the difficulties that a family was enduring with a member who was suffering from a debilitating disease. The story pulled at your heart strings...as do many of the stories that we hear now-a-days.

The story told of a woman who lost in dementia, found peace in music and danced shamelessly to cell phones, store intercoms, etc. in whatever environment in which she might be in when she heard music. Her family, vowed to "never let her dance alone" and I found the last words of the email quite moving.

Regardless of our beliefs, whether we are religious or spiritual of self dependent...we can all know love. Love for ourselves and other and that make it statement so applicable to everyone!

"We hold faith that God loves us so, and yet still, still, life hurts.

Sometimes healing comes from accepting what is.

Hope is learning how to dance with it."

I love this sentiment and totally agree with the meaning. I think that no matter who we are....there will be issues, problems, stumbling blocks...that is just life. But, finding and hanging on to the "bliss" of life and letting the other crap go...that is the key. Your personal peace may come from music, or maybe singing, or maybe drawing, or maybe cooking, or maybe kissing....whatever it is that moves you...the key is to remember that every moment is a gift.

I believe that....I really do! It doesn't mean that some of those moments aren't difficult. Actually, most of them are, but I cling to the sense of joy that I get from even the smallest things. The beautiful trees...the warm slurp of my dog's tongue...watching my husband jump and swat at a large grasshopper...the giggling and play of the neighbor boys...the memory of a snowflake falling gently to the ground...the peace of morning just before the sun pokes through....the crackle of a camp fire...the smell of fall - crisp air, and damp leaves...I cling to these things and remember that they are gifts that even out the crappy times.

In the meantime, I send thoughts of peace to the world in general and send daily hopes and wishes that anyone feeling overwhelmed by their current situation receive the peace that they need to be ok...for just that moment.

I send this wish to all.

~A

In Loving Memory of Kozmo (4/5/2007)

IN LOVING MEMORY OF KOZMO

May 5, 1996 - March 29, 2007

I'm not really sure how to write this message and it pains my heart to even have to say the words, but Kozmo passed away on Thursday evening while we were in Puerto Villarta.

Coming home to an empty house without him standing at the top of the stairs to greet us, smiling, tail wagging, was more difficult than we can describe. Even this morning I find that I'm wondering around the house in a fog. I habitually open doors for him and keep listening for the sound of his snore from "his" couch where he took his morning nap.

His passing was a shock as he was in good health and a very happy dog until the very end. Our friend Denise was staying with him while we were away and we have many reports from friends and neighbors that he was enjoying the warmer weather and loving "his yard" as he could be found patrolling the "woofy trail" around the yard, rolling in the grass, and lounging in the sun on the deck in his last days. And he of course found time in his busy day of naps and lounging to visit with his neighbor dogs around the fence.

He had a tumor rupture on his spleen and so the options available to us were limited and and the probability of recovery slim, not to mention he was in pain, and despite wanting to be with him, we could not tolerate him suffering as so made the difficult decision to put him to sleep. As difficult as it is for us to have not been the last touches he felt or the last faces that he saw, we are so thankful that Denise was here with him and that he was in his home.

He was a GREAT "woof." One in a million! Some of you have known him as long as you have known us. If you knew him at all you who knew how special he was. He has been with Doug and me since the very beginning and was more than just a pet to us. He was a family member - our baby! We've always said that he picked us and we are so glad that he did! He was my constant companion while I was sick, and always up for a walk or a good nap. He traveled with us, slept with us and even wore my wedding ring around his collar the day Doug asked me to marry "them."

We are lost without him and so very sad, but we have so many amazing memories! Here's to our "MO"! You will always be loved and missed.

Please visit the memorial that we have made for Kozmo at http://www.critters.com/main.php?action=view&mem_id=1539