Thursday, August 28, 2025
Rage and Resilience
Wednesday, August 20, 2025
A Snapshot in Time
April 4th, 2018 I started this blog. I knew something was wrong with me, but I had no idea what. In 2015 I tested positive for Tuberculosis. I was on the drug Plaquenil for 9 months. It was awful. I had a whole slew of side effects and took a year off of grad school mid-way through a two year program. I was a wreck.
At the time it was the worst thing that happened to me physically. HAH! I just have to laugh looking back. It's like stubbing your toe and thinking that's the worst thing ever only later to have all your limbs cut off with a chainsaw.
I won't rehash my complete timeline, because I did a good job doing it here with pictures. But writing a book about my journey has been on my mind. Given that I was thinking pictures are more powerful than words sometimes. My opening could be this montage of my journey...
Monday, August 18, 2025
My Puppies
We've had dogs going on 22 years now. We first had "Snack." A beautiful yellow lab, basset hound mix. She was so sweet, gentle, kind and calm. The perfect "starter" dog and so great with little kids. My dream of having a menagerie of animals was soon crushed by my husband's insistence that we only ever have dogs. I was able to sneak in the odd fish now and again. But aside from two cats when our son was very young, we've only ever had dogs.
When Snack got a little older I decided I wanted a puppy. I'd never had a puppy before and my hormones were going crazy. My husband said "no." I got a puppy. He lived with it. "Sweetie" was four months old and the only puppy at the pound when I got her. The same pound we got her sister from years before. They didn't know what breed she was. I just knew that I loved her and she needed us.
She grew into a beautiful whipped rat-terrier mix. (Best as we could tell.) She was very sweet tempered and we loved her every day of her life.
Our family Christmas card photo
Next Came Lulu. My husband heard of a basset hound being dumped in our friend's backyard. She couldn't keep the dog and was looking for a new home. Snack had been gone for a while and John wanted a basset hound. It seemed like destiny. Lulu the basset was ours before the end of the day.
Lulu with our son 2013
Lulu and Sweetie kept us laughing for many years with their antics. Lulu was like having a stubborn, slobbery donkey. Sweetie became my close companion when I became ill and too sick to work. She loved wheelchair rides and naps with mom.
(Lulu - With Sweetie behind her. April 2013)
We lost Lulu too soon due to a back injury. Sweetie grew old and cranky with us.
Sweetie was with us till around 13. We took to calling her "Kreacher" after the Harry Potter house elf. Because she would walk by any room we were in, look at us with a disgusted look on her face and keep walking. "Filthy muggles" we'd mutter in her voice. Canine dementia can be amusing if you try hard enough. We had her for her long, love-filled life.
We were determined to take a "break" from dog ownership after Sweetie passed on. We wanted to travel if possible and not take care of a needy animal for a bit. That only lasted a few weeks. It literally felt like the heart of our home had died. It was empty, cold, lonely without a dog.
I was looking around online at different pets and I saw Max. The second I saw his picture I just knew he was my soulmate. We hadn't had a boy dog before, so this was a new adventure. Three other couples had already applied for him. He had been rescued from a hoarding situation and was at a foster home. I beat everyone out with my determination and commitment to him. I just knew he was our boy.
Two years later his sister Margo joined us. My muscles had improved and we were talking about getting a second miniature pinscher now that Max wasn't going out with us as much as before. I saw a beautiful female listed online as needing a foster. I commented that I "hope she finds one soon." Almost immediately I received a phone call from the organization. It was the same one we found Max on. They wanted to know if we would foster her.
They were desperate as she was currently in an over-crowded kill shelter and had been there for THREE MONTHS!!! I was also told she was pregnant. Oooooh no. But my husband and I talked it over. We couldn't leave her there. So we agreed to take her. The rest is history. She was officially ours three months later. Through kennel cough, immunizations and a spay surgery. Luckily they were wrong about the pregnant part. I couldn't have been more relieved.
Monday, August 11, 2025
Tides of Life
Wednesday, August 6, 2025
First Time
Monday was the first time in about eight years that I drove a fair distance. I took my son to the beach town of Sausalito, about a 90 minute drive from our home.
Growing up my son and I would take trips together frequently during the summer. My husband was always working hard to support us and so I could stay home and be a full time parent. That meant it was usually just the two of us during school brakes. We even drove to Los Angeles together, about 7 hours from our house.
I always enjoyed these day trips with my son. We were adventure buddies and built great memories.
Now he is 31, but he also lives very close, doesn't have a partner and doesn't drive. He doesn't leave town unless we take him somewhere. We try and do that a few times a year and he always enjoys it. But it isn't the same as it just being the two of us.
That's why Monday was so special. I was giddy to be able to be so physical. We hiked the blustery beach, walked to an old military bunker, and climbed some steep, old, cement stairs. Things I could never even imagine doing a few months ago. Bodies are so amazing. Our ability to heal and recover.
I feel so alive right now. Like each moment is a juicy peach and I'm just savoring all I can. Each second I'm able to walk, bike, run, swim, climb is an enormous gift. One I never thought I would be able to enjoy again. I have gratitude and love in my heart to the universe for its magical, unpredictable ways.
Remembering the Basics
I got into a situation the other day where I was foolishly without a mobility tool. Even now, when I think I'm doing so great health wis...
-
Sometimes I like to go back in my blog and see what was happening five years ago that month. In November 2018 I purchased my first wheelchai...
-
I've spent most of this weekend getting to know how to use my new electric wheelchair. I decided to name her Dori after the Greek sea ...
-
Meal shopping and prepping is something my husband and I (mostly) do together. Our town has a magnificent farmer's market that we try t...