Time for a Change

So…The Golden Globes.  I am not a big watcher of awards shows, the only awards show that I don’t mind watching is the CMA’s and that is really if there isn’t anything else on.  Anyway- I didn’t watch the Golden Globes, but of course I heard about Meryl Streep and her 6 minute acceptance speech! *insert eye roll here*  Now, I am aware that she has won numerous awards and has been an actress forever, and I do like some of her movies, but I can’t say that I am a Meryl fan.  I have a couple of friends that will go and see a movie just because she is in it, which is fine, but I don’t like her that much.  Tom Hanks on the other hand…that’s a different story!!

Here’s my beef about her “acceptance” speech.  About 3 minutes in, she starts talking about Hollywood crawling with “foreigners” and if we kicked them all out…  My question is this: Are you all here legally?  I bet you are, so THERE IS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT!!!  This goes for any one who is here in the United States, famous or not.  If they have gained access to this country by legal means, then they are not in danger of being deported…period! End of story, and I am not sure why there are some who cannot seem to understand this.

About 5 minutes in to her speech, she starts talking about the press and how they need to hold people in power accountable and “call them on the carpet”, to which I will 100% agree, BUT, we also need the press to be unbiased in their reporting!  Not just during an election year, but all the time, everyday!  How are “we the people” to make an informed decision with out accurate information?  You can say “do your research” and don’t rely on the news, but I feel that the news is a very big part of information gathering, but it’s definitely isn’t the only source.

This is an awards show, accept your award, say thank you and get on with the show.  I felt like it was inappropriate of her to use that format for her political statements and I don’t feel that she “thanked” anyone for being given the award!  BUT…that is just my opinion, and I am thankful that we live in a country where I can express that such opinion.

Since Donald Trump won the election, for which I am glad, I have been praying.  My prayers and hopes for the next 4 years are this: I pray that we can come together as a country, as One Nation Under God, agree to disagree if that is what needs to be done, and do it respectfully with one another.  I pray that Mr. Trump will be a good president and that every one will be impressed with the things he accomplishes, and I pray that he will “Make America Great Again”.  When I went to the polls and cast my ballot, I wasn’t voting FOR Donald Trump, and I wasn’t voting AGAINST Hilary Clinton.  I was voting for the Supreme Court, for our Service Men and Women, for our Veterans, for the middle class…I was voting for a CHANGE.  I feel like that is why Trump won, is because so many people in this country were tired of the direction we were headed, tired of working 40+ hours a week and not having anything to show for it…it was time for a change.

Is Donald perfect? No, absolutely not.  Is Hilary perfect?  No, certainly not.  Am I perfect?  Nope.  Are you perfect?  Probably not.  No one is, but my goal for 2017 is to Love more, Respect more, Accept More, and Love more.  Oh!  I said Love twice…Yup, because who doesn’t need more Love?  Will you join me?

See You Later

It’s been 3 weeks today that we had to put our “Old Lady” down, and my heart still aches and the tears still come easily.  In my last post, I wrote about her condition and what happens.  I mentioned that it is a progressive disease but we were nowhere prepared for how fast it was going to progress, it was an unwelcome surprise to my family.  She was with us another 6 days after that post, and in those 6 days, my heart broke more and more each day, knowing that time with her was drawing to an end.

Animals, especially dogs, have a sense when their humans don’t feel good, or they are upset, or sad and that was sure true in this case.  I would get down on the floor with her and talk to her and love her, and she would just look at me with so much love in her eyes, almost as if to say, “I know why you’re so sad, but I’ll be ok.”  At 14 years old, she had seen all of us at our absolute worst and our absolute best and everything in between, and I have to say, she knew her humans well.

 

My husband, bless his heart, wanted so badly to let us have one more Christmas with her, especially since our kids don’t live at home anymore and they were to be home over that weekend, and he tried everything to make that happen so that they could at least see her one more time in person, but it wasn’t meant to be.  Through many many tears, and the wonder of technology, we FaceTimed with the kids so they had a change to see her and she could hear their voices.  It’s not the same as being there in person, but it is certainly better than nothing.  That last weekend with her was emotionally exhausting, I couldn’t even look at her without bursting into tears, it was awful.

The morning of the 19th came, and I called the vet to make the appointment.  *Heart breaks into a million pieces*  We decided to take a page from the other gal that I read about and take our gal for something a little special.  We drove through McDonald’s and treated her to 2 cheeseburgers and then we drove her down Willow Road (a beautiful local scenic road lined with trees) so that she could look at the trees and nature.  We pulled into the interstate lake that is along the road, and my hubby and I got out, gave her her cheeseburgers and just sat with her, petted her, talked to her, told her what a good girl she was, and how much we all loved her. *Heart breaks into a million more pieces*

I am not going to go into the details of our time at the vet, a). because I am already crying, b). I’m sure you already know what happened at the vet, and c). and this might sound very strange, but it was a very emotional and intimate process and I feel that it should be kept that way.  I do, however, want to say how wonderful our vet office was during this whole process.  The whole staff at Eastside Animal Center is so compassionate, caring and comforting and if anything could have made this easier, it was to know that they feel empathy for what we were going through.  Wonderful people, couldn’t ask for anyone better than them!!

We had her cremated, which is a decision that I struggled with off and on before, but now I know it was the absolute right decision and one that I will never regret.  The staff and the vet clinic sent us a sympathy card and when I went back to pick up her ashes, the lady comes around the corner and hands me a “card” along with her wooden urn.  On this card, was OC’s nose print and a paw print…I was overwhelmed (and was ugly crying)  with gratitude for these people and the kindness they had shown us.  I am sure that they do this for each customer, but at that moment, I felt like we were the only ones, and it was wonderful.

So, this morning I read another blog post about a family who had to put their dog down yesterday and she wrote about her kids and husband and all of their memories about their dog, and I am just reading and crying…it’s hard to read through tears!  But in her post, she wrote something and I wanted to share what she said.  She said that she felt kind of funny for going on and on about Charlie (her dog) because after all- he’s a dog. ” There is so much human suffering and tragedy in the world that this can’t even being to compare to that…BUT!  Anyone who has ever loved a dog understands that it is a special kind of loss.”   Did I need to read that today or what?!?!  The answer is YES, I did and I am SO GLAD I did.  Does this mean that I am not sad or heartbroken anymore…absolutely not, but it does help me to know that I am not alone and I am not acting like an idiot when it’s been 3 weeks and I am still crying over “just a dog”.  Dogs are SO MUCH MORE than that…all pets are way more than “just” pets!!

December 19, 2016- one of the hardest days of our family’s  lives.  We know it was the right thing to do, but that doesn’t make the loss any easier.  What we draw comfort from is that she has been healed of her ailments and she is up there watching over us, waiting to greet us with that beautiful smile that she always had.  Oh my goodness do we miss her!!!…But, she will never be replaced, we have our memories, and we will definitely “see you later”.