I was up in my bathroom today, sitting at my mirror and putting on make-up.
My twin daughters wandered in with a friend of theirs - one seated herself on the sink counter, the other two lounged on the edge of the bathtub.
We got to chatting about this and that and our conversation eventually turned to where we were openly discussing and sorta dissecting the ever-interesting topic of sex.
There were moments of laughter - moments of disgusted groaning noises from my daughters - moments of mild embarrassment, I am sure.
One of my daughters turned to her friend at one point and said, "Does your family do this - sit around talking about this stuff - talk about sex so openly?"
When I was a young girl - long before I ever considered being a mother or how many children I might have in my life - I was sort of a hippie girl - knee-torn bell-bottoms, moccasins, long hair, a free spirit.
If I could talk to that young girl now - tell her one thing she would do in her life that would make her very proud, it would be --- "Always be a free spirit - never let go of who you truly are, as ... it will be one of the things that will bridge a strong relationship between you and your precious children."
I haven't always been happy with everyone I have been in my life but ... I am so glad I was that hippie girl :)
Over the weekend, we had a tragedy hit our family.
It's not anything we won't overcome, and fortunately it does not involve the health or death of a human family member. But, it does involve the death of one our precious pets.
Our sweet Pomeranian, Barbie, got out of our yard and went out on the road in front of our house and was hit by a car (on Friday).
A woman walking saw the accident and stopped, pulled Barbie off the road and was then quickly assisted by another woman driving by. The other woman happened to have her own dog in her car and was on her way to the veterinarian. She urged the first women to help her load Barbie into her car and they then both rushed to take her to the vet. They returned a short while later and went from door to door (not an easy task in our large neighborhood) looking for the owners of the injured dog. I had already been made aware that Barbie had been hit (from our next door neighbors) and was waiting for the ladies to return. When they did, they allowed me to follow them back to the clinic.
It was there that I was given the great opportunity to get to know these 2 women that took time out of their lives (several hours) and showed tremendous kindness and concern for not just our precious family pet, but an animal in need of help.
Our sweet Barbie was injured too badly to save her and so I made the decision (with the help of the veterinarian) to put her to sleep. I was with her when she died.
I thanked these women over and over for taking her so quickly to the vet, as if it had not been for their kindness and immediate decision to handle the situation, she might have suffered further out on the road. Because she was at the clinic and treated with fluids and pain medications, she was stabilized and out of pain when I saw her. My family and I were relieved to know that she was so loved in her final moments and protected from the pain that might have surely been in store for her.
We will miss our beloved pet ...
Barbie's death has affected Alexis the most, as Barbie was her dog - a gift to her when she was 4 years old. She immediately gave this precious pup the name of Barbie, as Alexis loved Barbies. I found this written on the white board in Alexis' room ...
It says: Dear God, Please let Barbie live a happy life in Heaven and let her meet all the dogs of ours that have died and play with them and someday I want to see her in Heaven. Amen.
I totally believe that God will answer Alexis' prayer - totally!
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While this has been devastating to our family, there are far worse things that can happen in one's life. I was reminded of this fact on Saturday when I went over to visit my friend Angie at her site Keep Believing. Angie wrote a post on Friday called, The Worst Results Ever that just broke my heart. I beg you to go over and offer Angie your kind words, your words of support, your words of wisdom, your prayers - during this truly devastating and difficult time in her a Brian's lives.
I told those women that stopped to help my dog that, "We women - we need to just take over the world," and I was joking at the time, but what I meant was that there are no more compassionate and caring human beings ... than women. We gather and we rally and we support and we make the hard decisions.
Please go over and show Angie your love, as her sweet husband, Brian, is struggling and is in the final days of his life. Angie needs our shoulders and ears and arms and hearts and prayers.
