Tonight's picture was taken in January of 2009. Mattie was home in between treatments and a teacher from Mattie's school came over to give Mattie a piano lesson. Mattie received this keyboard from the hospital volunteer duo... Jerry and Nancy. Mattie loved music and before one of our neighbor's moved out of our complex in the city, she gave us her upright piano so Mattie could learn how to play. To this day, I still have Susan's piano in our home. The sad part is Mattie never got the opportunity to truly take consistent lessons.
Quote of the day: Dogs die. But dogs live, too. They live brave, beautiful lives. They protect their families. And love us. And make our lives a little brighter. And they don’t waste time being afraid of tomorrow. ~ Dan Gemeinhart
Right from the very beginning, as soon as we brought Sunny into our home, he immediately got along with Indie. On day one.... He gave her a big greeting and they sniffed noses. With Sunny's death, Indie has kicked it into high gear. She has become more vocal, does a lot of weaving around me, and follows me all over the place. She is channeling her inner Sunny. Of course there will never be another Sunny! He was the best dog ever.
This morning, after doing my usual routine (fed Indie, got showered and dressed, made breakfast, cleaned out Indie's litter box, vacuumed the first floor, cleaned kitchen counters, then woke up my dad, made their bed, got my dad showered, dressed, and downstairs for breakfast, threw out the trash and started the laundry), I got my dad in the car and dropped him off at his memory care center. Keep in mind everything I just listed above is done by 10am. When I got home, I got my mom moving and into the car, and drove 30 minutes into the city for my mom's hair and nail appointment.
While my mom was getting her hair done, I got my nails done. I have know my manicurist since 2009. We have been through many ups and downs together and her sister is my hair stylist. I have know my hair stylist since I was around 25 years old! My point is, this is me! When you enter my life, I invest the time in getting to know you, I become attached to you, and I am honored to have developed so many beautiful and loyal friendships throughout my life.
It is very clear to those who know me that I am carrying a heavy burden. I look exhausted, I have lost over 20 pounds, and emotionally I am drained. Both my manicurist and hair stylist today showered me with comfort, understanding, and love. Ironically they view me as one of the strongest and most loving women they know. High praise indeed, of which I wasn't expecting to hear. As I told them, I did not set out in life to achieve this distinction, but I have been given a challenging lot in life and there are two options as I see it.... collapse and give up on life, or take one day at a time and try to find a way forward. Honestly I can waffle between both extremes in any given day.
What prevents me from throwing in the towel. Well first of course I have my parents to care for, and if someone needs me, I rise to the occasion to give it my all. But second there are a core group of friends, my cousin, Peter's cousin and his parents who are there for me daily. I can't tell you what a difference a supportive text makes in my life. Perhaps to these individuals this may not seem like much, but to me it means the world and these lifelines keep me afloat. They are my life boats!
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