Inquire, Inspire, Aspire
On May 24, 2019, I received a notification that it was my tenth anniversary with WordPress.
But, hold on.
I have not been blogging for ten years. I’ve been blogging for seven and a half years.
So, why did I get a ten year anniversary notification?
Continue reading “A Decade that Hurts”
I hadn’t planned a second post for this week, but I feel the need to write this story.
In May of 2007, my husband brought home a stray puppy that had been roaming the 
busy city streets of Tampa. We had our beloved Piezon in those days, plus our cat, Sneakers, and weren’t really up for a third pet. We both hoped that my training would get this pup into shape for us to find her a loving forever home.
Piezon wasn’t crazy about having another dog in the house either. Oh, he was certainly kind to her. He was just used to my full attention and was always by my side. With this new pup around me so much, he went off into other rooms by himself more often.
I named this sweet little girl Blaze for two reasons. One, she had a fiery brindle coat. Two, she was a bit timid, and I wanted her name to be a word with an energy of vibrancy and confidence.
Piezon was such a friendly guy. I wrote in his eulogy about how he loved all living things and was never shy or timid. Little did I know how much he would help me train Blaze and bring her out of her shell. When she’d hide from visitors who came over to our house, Piezon would run right for them, which made her curious. She’d have to come and see what all of his excitement was about. By simply being himself, Piezon is pretty much the one who trained Blaze for me. She emulated him.
I put out flyers and brought her to adoption events. Five months went by, and I was growing fonder of Miss Blaze. I told my husband that after six months she would be ours. Right when I made that decision, our dog-walker’s mom showed interest in adopting her, and soon after, Blaze was off to her forever home.
I was able to keep up with Blaze’s life through social media. Her new family named her Gioia (pronounced, Joy-ah), which in Italian means, Joy.
I saw Gioia in person twice in the coming months, and then a lot of time went by without personal contact. Would you believe that when we met again years later, she remembered me?! It makes me cry 
just thinking about it.
I haven’t seen her in person for many years now, but watched her life through social media. Over this past weekend, I got word she left this world for the next and it has me feeling emotional. I also feel very sad for Gioia’s mom.
Thank you for indulging my story about the Blaze who lit up five months of my life.
Listening to the neighbor’s nonstop barking dog made me grateful for the dogs I’ve had in my life.
Max and my beloved Piezon (Paesano in Italian who is now gone 😥) have been fully obedient and only bark when someone is near our house or approaching the door.
The years keep ticking by. As of tomorrow, it’ll be nine of them since he left this world.
Memories fade. I hate that.
I don’t understand a lack of faith in things unseen. Love is unseen, yet it goes on even after death. Why doesn’t love cease to exist if the person we love no longer exists?
It happened two weeks after our cross country move. I sauntered down the stairs in our new place and stopped on the last step to give my hubby, Gary, a hug. Shortly after, we parted to go in different directions.
I turned to go right and . . . SCREAM!
