A Year Ago Today

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Five Seasons

Here we go again into another season without my Max. The grieving process is different for each individual, and for me, the first year is brutal with experiencing the change of seasons without him.

The Best Disinfectant

Over the weekend we were hoping to get some of that disinfecting UV light, but Saturday it rained all day. My brand new tulips enjoyed it though.

Confessions from Lock Down

I probably shouldn’t confess this out on a public forum, but here we go anyway . . .

Regenerated Routine

After we said goodbye to our dog, Max . . . simply doing our regular routine felt like a knife to the gut. He was always there during every routine. It’s difficult to change things up, because I still needed to do all the same things I always did, only without him. I started to write a little about my routine, but how boring. I’ll just get to the point of this post.

Snow, Flowers, and Chiengora

So, this happened over the weekend. 👇

Take a Pill

Last week I posted about how a couple of people have tried to rush me to get a new pet after saying goodbye to my beloved dog, Max. Today I’d like to discuss a topic that is related, but more about processing emotions in general.

You might say that those people think they’re trying to help by offering a new pet to stop me from hurting. That may be true, but in many cases, I think this goes even deeper.

Why does much of society think they can obliterate bad times altogether for humanity?

Find Someone Else

If you knew someone who lost their spouse just a few weeks ago, would you say, “I know it’s hard, but there are other men/women out there looking for love. Get on eharmony and find one who needs you?”

Distractions

Have you ever needed a distraction . . . a task or entertainment to get your mind off of something?

Raw

Five Stages. Denial.  Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance.

Gifts to Humanity

A strange thing happened when we went to the cemetery. My loved one wasn’t even buried there, but I found comfort.

I don’t go to cemeteries to visit any lost loved ones, so I was surprised at the comfort that poured over me.

Resistance is Futile

Warning: loving a dog can lead to a broken heart.

Would I have adopted my first dog had I been warned? Probably. I didn’t get my first dog until I was thirty-five years old. Before then, I had no idea about the enormous bond that occurs between human and dog. Of course, I had heard about it, but hearing about it from others is trite in comparison to the experience. Not to mention, loving anyone is a risk usually worth taking.

Don’t get me wrong, I know that loving any pet (cat, rabbit, bird, etc) can lead to a broken heart. I’m focusing on dogs right now, because my heart is broken from loving a dog who left this earth just three short weeks ago.

My boy Max

Before and After

Before
(Written January 16, 2019)

We Said Goodbye

We said our final goodbyes to Max last night, January 8, 2020 around 6pm. I have no energy in me to write much else at the moment. I wrote the following while he was sick but still with us. Thank you for honoring our sweet boy by reading it. I may be scarce for a little while.

A Decade that Hurts

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?

Blaze

I hadn’t planned a second post for this week, but I feel the need to write this story.

Piezon

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.

Her ribs were showing when she came to us.

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.

Memories Fade – A Tribute

 

Piezon (Paesano in Italian, means friend)

The years keep ticking by. As of tomorrow, it’ll be nine of them since he left this world.

Memories fade. I hate that.

Live for the Journey

Every year on this date, it’s a must for me to remember this lovable furry guy in the photo. Piezon changed my life and was my everything for eleven and a half years. He had such a palpable spirit and filled up the missing spaces in my life back then (he came to me in place of the children I couldn’t have). He brought along with him a lot of positive spiritual energy that manifested in so many forms. When he died, all that spirit energy seemed to go with him.

How did we Meet?

Have you ever met anyone online that became a good friend? If you’re a blogger, I’m guessing you probably have.

Six Years ago Today