Momma Tell Me How This Will End!

 Momma tell me the story again of how this all ends! 

It ends my precious darling with a lesson for many,

 many people.

You were in Houston and just one hour away from being killed when some kind person pulled you and found a private pilot and his plane to fly you to San Antonio, TX.  After a while with lots of help you found your way to my house.  You make me smile, feel loved, and needed! You have brought energy and enthusiasm and excitement to our home! I love you Sophie.

Moral of the story and the reason for her landing in my lap is this!! 

There is no better feelin than to have her look deep into my eyes and tell me in her own way each and every morning "Thank you for saving me".

She scatters joy every day of our lives together!!

 BEING THERE FOR ANOTHER PERSON'S PAIN

When someone is hurting you simply have to be there and say, ''I am here for you." 

This is the most precious thing you can offer someone you care deeply for and that is your presence. It is not something you buy. It is something you give of yourself.

The times we are going through are excruciatingly difficult.  Something none of us have ever experienced before.  We don't know how to handle it. We want to do something, but what is it that we can do that will help? 

If you are anything like I am, you awaken in the morning and are shaken by fear, uncertainty and disbelief. We all too often can let that energy take charge of us and harm us. But ultimately that fear and anger will consume us.

So what is it that we can do? I am of the belief that we must focus on creating compassion for those around us and for those hurting, afraid and unsure of what to do.

I live alone and have for decades. No siblings, no husband, a daughter I have not heard from in many, too many years. It is lonely and yes often terrifying.  Sometimes I want is to be held and told it will be alright. But will it?

For decades I have found solace, comfort and love by  providing comfort, peace and understanding to our most severely wounded veterans. From a triple amputee who allowed my golden retriever to snuggle close and tell me it felt so good...to watching as my dog stopped a suicide attempt and brought another out of a coma. 

I am not allowed to continue that passion now. I must wait.  Patience isn't my strong suit as most anyone will tell you.  But I have no choice...most all of us have no choice.  

But we can be there for an other person's pain. We can understand and offer our prayers, our understanding and comfort. And in so doing we find we do have a purpose and a reason for getting up in the morning. 

So today I invite you to tell me what gives you solace and comfort.  Is it in helping those that need help the most, baking cookies for a friend, shopping for a neighbor who is imunocompromised and isolated, or walking your dog in the cool of the morning and breathing in a new day.  Ask yourself, how can I make a difference in someone's life today. At that moment our attitude changes and we can become a small drop of hope for someone who needs it the most.  

Compassion is possible in any situation!!!

TEST

Dring the Iraq war a deployed friend sent me this picture.  It has stuck with me for a very long time.

It is hard to see and invision the thoughts going through this little girls head.  Bullet holes in the window in front of bars. 

I take this to heart this morning on basically lock down in my own home. But I have comforts not desolation.  I have hope that one day this will end and humanity will wake up.  This is the one beautiful life we are given. But right now there is little to no beauty.  

test

Sometimes at some point in our lives, we all need to be rescued, to be released from fear, to find peace, to release and let go of the burdens that consume us and pull us to the ground. This is especially true right now.  Life as we once knew it is crumbling around us. How do we hang on?  How do we take another step in a world that is frighteningly unknown to us?

We must not give up. We must still find rapture in the small things.  For me a shining shell on my desk and photos of dogs long loved, gone too soon, who left behind memories of undying love. 

We are being lead along a painful path. Listen to your hearts, maintain a sense of humor, and follow the middle way.  Reframe your response to difficult situations. 

Give yourself some silent time each day, for in moments of emptiness, the spirit enters.  Float in the silence.  Let it fill or body and mind.

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OFFERINGS

OFFERINGS

SAVING A DOG CAN OFTEN TIMES HELP YOU SAVE YOURSELF

It comes as no surprise to most of you that I know this to be a fact, to be true.

Each dog that has entered my life has done so with a purpose that turned into a gift.

When I have known someone for a long time or perhaps only a few days,  I sense if they are suffering.  I then take my time to put myself in their position. It gives me a much more clear sense and understanding of how I could best help them. 

Having had the first therapy dog in South Texas I can tell in an instant what is needed to help someone in great pain, whether mental or physical.  I watch. I listen. I care.  Caring is the most important of all.  If you don't care, you toss platitudes in their direction and feel satisfied that you did something meaningful.  But did you really?  Was it sincere. Did you put yourself in their shoes of being covered 90% with severe burns, missing all but one limb, etc.? Can you literally feel their pain? 

I have found over the years that every so often, if I stop what I am doing and breathe I begin to notice the world all around me. It is here that I have learned compassion and other virtues that suddenly come with little effort. I have spent the better part of my life doing whatever it is I can do to aleviate someone elses pain.  For I know all too well what that feels like when there is literally no one to help you through the storm. 

I am at a place now where I am reflecting on my journey, primarily my journey with the very ill, the dying, the burn survivors, the blind, the severely injured in combat, the amputees and those trying to survive with the very worse possible post traumatic stress and unending pain from those surviving rape.  The list could go on and on.  But in this journey I have felt totally blessed to be able to be present for those who were reaching out for help and not sure how to do so. I listened.  I heard. I held them as they sobbed for having lost their vision, pride, courage and arms/legs. 

I have been asked multiple times how I could do and do what I have.  My answer was always simple.  "How could I not do it?" I have asked people to join me to visit these people but more times than not they didn't want to 'see'. It would make them uncomfortable or sickened. This is eality.  These are men and women who gave everything to protect us and you can't make the time to see them and say thank you! I do not comprehend.

My therapy dogs ,the first in the state of Texas  in 1986 to now, have shown me the way.  I watched them and learned from them. If they were visiting a veteran with no legs and one arm, it was not a problem.  To my dogs they were just people. It was what they could give at that moment in time.  They saw no differences, they didn't feel sorry or sad or worse yet refuse to interact with that person because they couldn't stand to look at them. When I invited friends to accompany me to visit with the injured troops I would hear, "Oh no, I couldn't look at them.,    or no it is not something I want my children to see." What a tremendous opportunity was missed!

Each therapy dog I have had over the years, has shown me the way and the light to bring to someone else. It is not about me or my dogs.  It is not now, nor ever has been. I can say this in all certainty!

Lately, I have reflected on my journey so far and celebrate every step I have taken. I am blessed, as I have found and pursued my passion. I have listened to the quietest sound from inside my soul!

I implore you to take this time and seize this moment.  What you do or dream of, begin it!! 

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. ~ Goethe's Faust ~ Translated.

Train yourself to listen with compassion.  I see that seldom in people. I have learned that from their actions and hollow shallow words from every situation in my life. 

Do not try to avoid other's pain and the suffering that accompanies it. Life is a gift and ever day you are given a new day. How can you best use and experience that day?  Help others in pain, deeply and genuinely.    Actions speak louder than words.  Trust me on this my friends, for this I know to be fact!

PERHAPS JUST PERHAPS

Perhaps in saving a rescue dog, we find we save outselves as well!!

I have learned a great deal in the past few months. Rather than go into detail, I will focus here on saving one little dog and how in so doing I was saved as well.

It is no surprise to anyone that we are living through/surviving a kind of hell for the past few months.  For me especially and personally, it has been and remains grim, as I have no family. Friends have their own families and lives and are busy with them, making it doubly difficult for me to face the reality of being alone.  

I am not unaccustomed to this, but this time is something far more isolating than ever before.  I had not at all been certain as how to handle this growing, seemingly unending, isolation.

And then when I least expected it and was certainly not prepared for it, along came Sophie.  A rescue out of Houston, TX with only a few hours prior to being euthanized, her life was about to change. A rescue in San Antonio took her and had her flown into San Antonio by private plane. 

I was on the edge, searching for that one thing that would make me feel good and that would give me pleasure and once again a purpose, even if only for one moment.

It was then I was to meet Sophie. Her rescue brought her to my home for a meet and greet with me, and of course Lady and Rainie. 

I had little to no intention of anything spectacular happening. But one cock of her head and those ears and tender loving, longing eyes, I knew she was to be mine. 

Introducing her to the primary dog residents might be another story. So to the back yard we went.

I let both dogs out not at all sure what to expect but ready for anything.  A few sniffs by all and the deal was sealed.  Lady was so excited she did laps around the yard and much to her surprise jumped into the bird bath! 

From that moment on they are all the best of friends and know their order in the pack.  Each day has been and remains a treasure.  I am not so alone. They love each other and they love me.  What more could I ask for? I have seldom, if ever, known that feeling from a person. 

You see saving a dog sometimes can help you save yourself.