56 Years and Counting

My parents celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary March 19th. How wonderful it must be to share your lives together for so long and still like to be with each other. What a blessing! My parents were always said to be the example of what love and marriage was all about. How lucky I was to grow up in a household where there was much love, respect, dedication and stability. So many people I knew came from "broken homes" and did not have a home life like I did. I was very lucky to have two parents who adored me and only wanted the best for me. Looking back on the memories of the home I knew as a child, I miss those years.

This year my aunt and uncle drove down from NY to be with my parents on their anniversary. Tim and I joined them for dinner at the Red Lobster. Afterwards we went back to my parents house for some uber good cupcakes from one of our local bakers. The next week we went to my parents for dinner with everyone. A friend of mine I have known since we were little sent me a recipe for Chicken Bacon Ranch that is cooked in a crockpot. I passed the recipe on to my Mom and that was what we had for dinner. Yum! Last Saturday everyone came to our house for dinner. That was probably the best meal I have ever cooked in my life! They met our new puppy, Gracie, which everyone loved and saw all the renovations we did on the house since they had visited last. We had the best time just being together and visiting. Tonight we are joining everyone for dinner at the only place in the Memphis area to get BBQ...Brad's BBQ. This will be our last dinner together, as my aunt and uncle will be leaving tomorrow to head back to NY.

Exploring Arkansas

We wanted this year to be different than past years. This year, we want to get out of the house and explore what's around us. We will be calling this "Exploring Arkansas". We will be planning weekend trips to different areas of Arkansas. We made a list of things we would like to do. Our plans are do some white river rafting, doing the ziplines, canoeing, going to museums and outdoor markets, exploring caves and diamond craters, and even renting dune buggies. I've always wanted to sky dive, so maybe we can put that on the list as well. This state has so much to see and do. As we start our travels, we will be blogging about them and posting photos.

Tim Gets A New Job

Two days after Mollie died, Tim lost his job on January 20th. What a horrible week we had! Tim had been employed with this company for 9 years and this came as a shock to him. He was one of 15 booted out that day. They called it “economic cutbacks”. When I came home for lunch and saw his car in the drive way, it worried me. I walked in and said, “Please don’t tell me you lost your job”. To which he said, “I did”. He was so upset, but we came up with a plan together. He spent the next two weeks looking for a job, sending resumes and filling out applications. He went through a local temp agency and was able to get on with a distribution company. He has better hours, which gives us more family time. This company only hires twice a year and we’re hoping he will be selected for permanent employment when they begin the selection process. He really likes working there and it’s something different than what he had been doing.

Mollie crossed The Rainbow Bridge

On January 18, 2011, our little Mollie died. She was 12 yrs old. It’s been a month now since we lost her and I am at a place now where I can write this blog.


Mollie was a Peekapoo and weighed 5 pounds. For many years it was just Mollie and I. She was beautiful dog and had such a loving personality. Everywhere I went, Mollie went. She was my parents “Granddog” and they adored her. Mollie loved Tim, he was her “Daddy”. When Tim and I married, they would have breakfast together. He would make an extra piece of toast for her. Mollie loved, loved, loved Hawaiian rolls. She would go nuts when she saw the orange bag. Mollie loved life. Mollie enjoyed going to the park where the ducks and geese were. She would bark and chase them. She thought she was a big, when she was so small. She taught me how to love, to not be selfish and how to care for another. She needed me and I loved that. She was always so happy to see me when we had been apart. Every evening she sat with me as I watched TV or read.

When I think back on our time together, I had 12 of the most wonderful years with her. Not a day has gone by that I don’t miss or think of her. We had her cremated and she is resting in a pretty wooden box. Someday, we will be buried together. Inside the box are all the things I saved of hers throughout her life. Her puppy teeth, dog tags, her collar and bows from when she was groomed. The day we picked her ashes up, the lady at the cremation place gave us a copy of the Rainbow Bridge. I cried as I read it. How I wish this would actually happen. We’ve all lost a pet, so let’s just hold on to the hope that one day this will happen. Through all the things Mollie and I did together, she is on a journey, that she has to take alone.

The Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together.... 

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