Unconditional Love

I was looking for something in my room a little bit ago and I came across these pictures. These are pictures of my Ellie dog. Patrick brought her home about eleven years ago. He named her Cinder because at the time that was the color of her hair (I think). I called her Cinderellie, Ellie for short. She was the cutest little puppy, part chow, part shepherd, part ?. For some reason, she bonded with me. I think it might have been after her first haircut! You see, her hair never really grew back right after that first haircut. The vet did all kinds of tests to see what might be wrong and there was absolutely nothing that could be found. So often times when the hair would start to grow back in patches, she wasn't the most beautiful dog in the world, except to me. Everyone made fun of her beauty! Through the years, Ellie was always here when I came home from a long, tiring, and tough day at school. She followed me everywhere I went in the house and always sat at my feet. At night, she slept at the foot of my bed. She was never quite put together right and had several surgeries through the years, always coming through with flying colors. She took arthritis medicine regularly. Last summer, she started having trouble getting up on my bed. She completely stopped and would lay down next to the bed. I took her to the vet in September and found that her arthritis had gotten progressively worse. He tried several different treatments and nothing helped. Sometimes when she got up to greet me, she would yelp. It broke my heart! Finally, at Thanksgiving, I knew it was time. It was such a hard decision, but one I knew had to be made. Patrick, Cameron, and I went to take her to the vet. I was able to stay with her until she went to sleep and that is all I could do. Cameron and I left and Patrick stayed. I have her ashes which is something I never thought I would do. I never understood why anyone would pay for that and I did exactly that!!

Our vet has written something very touching on his website about having to make this decision. I am adding it to this blog.

In the beginning we have a puppy or kitten. The giggles, laughing and playing that is done at this stage is awesome. We can shout let’s go and our puppy runs to the car. Here kitty, kitty brings a purring bundle of fur running for a daily treat. At night they may snuggle in, sharing the warmth of their body with you. Life is good.

During the middle years our pet may become more sedate. They like lying down at our feet or in our lap, content to be with us. They have no remote control issues, they just want to share our space and feel our warmth. They are still excited to go bye-bye. They may love to play. They definitely enjoy their treats. We may have changed their diet due to weight gain because we love feeding them treats. Our pet may start to get up slower, walk slower, and have less interest in what they used to enjoy.

At 11 for dogs and 14 for cats our pet has lived approximately 60-70 human years. They begin to experience the full aging process. We may notice they really hate being outside in the heat, struggle to stay warm, seem to sleep all the time, their hair coat may not be as bright and shiny and their appetite may not be as good. Our pet may not see or hear as well as they used to. They may not remember how we potty trained them and make mistakes. We may get frustrated because there is extra care and cost of care involved. We may find ourselves thinking “When will I know it is time to say good-bye?” Contrary to what people think, very few pets die from old age. As pets age they are more prone to illness. Just as in humans, if these diseases are not prevented or treated your pet may suffer. The unconditional love a pet displays everyday is enormous. They can be in pain and suffering and will still attempt to wag their tail when they recognize your voice. When it is time, it is hard for us to say good-bye. Remember, your pet is living in the moment with no specific event such as weddings, birthdays, or anniversaries affecting their need to live a longer life. Their moment is you. That moment is on a daily basis with no future plans that drive them to hang on for just one more day. Allowing our pets to suffer because of age, disease, or lack of care is inhumane. Unfortunately this is not uncommon because we may be afraid to experience the loss of our pet. Many times we delay making decisions because of our own discomfort and loss. When we start to question whether it is time, we already may know the answer.

Reality Check

It was back to school and back to reality this week, although the week was quiet. We are getting ready for AIMS testing in another week................

I have missed doing my blog, but haven't quite figured out what I am going to continue to do this on. Most of the things that happen at school aren't things I can write about on the internet--at least not until I retire!! Then watch out!!!!!!!!!!!! My cousin, Phil, loves my stories! I don't think that he believes that these kinds of things can happen, but they can and they do!!

I am hoping to do a few more "roots" kinds of things as soon as I can find a letter that my uncle Matt wrote several years ago about a trip that he went on to Leadville, Colorado. My grandparents and great grandparents moved there for the mines and the railroad before moving to Arizona in 1912 and 1903 respectively. If you noticed the picture of the house on the side of the blog, that is our house in Douglas in 1932. It still looks pretty much the same. My aunt Teresa was born in the house and still lives there. It has been in our family since 1918! I grew up in that house. There are so many wonderful memories at 858!

My day to day life is rather boring, which is a good thing because school certainly isn't! I do intend to tell a little more about the leprechaun in Limerick, but I have to wait until I get some pictures downloaded onto this computer. So that chapter is yet to come............

Sweet Home Arizona

What a long day it has been today!! We are home minus three suitcases that will hopefully be delivered tomorrow. We left the hotel at 7:00 a.m. (12:00 a.m. Arizona time) and got to the airport and the long lines going through customs.

Over the last several years, I have gone to several family functions from Georgia, to Idaho, to San Jose and Modesto, California only to run in to a student, parent, or former student from our school. Today, in line with us for our flight to Philadelphia was half of the Gilbert High School Band. I knew that they were going to be in Dublin for the St. Patrick's Day Parade, but didn't realize they were staying the week. So here we are in Dublin and I get a big hug from a former student and see another former student and his dad. I also talked to a couple of teachers that I know. I guess I can't go anywhere!!

From Dublin we flew to Philadelphia and had to go through Customs there. What a pain!!! Anyway, we got through and had very little time before we had to fly to Baltimore on one of those very small jets. We got to Baltimore just in time to get on the plane to Phoenix. I am sure that is why all of our luggage didn't get here!! The flight to Phoenix was long and we got here around 7:15. I sat next to a lady who is writing children's books. We talked a lot about this topic and she showed me a couple of her books on her computer. She is going to donate some of the books to our school as they have to do with fire and burn prevention.

By the time we got the report taken care of for the luggage and got home, it was almost 9:00. The pugs were so excited, especially my little black girl pug, Blanca. She cried and cried!! That is why I love dogs and their unconditional love.

Cameron had drawn welcome home with a shamrock on the carport. It was a bit hard to see, but I will look at it tomorrow. He was asleep, but woke up long enough to give us a big hug.

For those of you in Arizona if you ever need a good travel person, I would recommend Gina from www.grcruisesandtours.com. Other than the lost luggage, everything went so great. Thank you, Gina!!

It is good to be home, especially after such a great week. I am going to continue to do this blog. I am not sure what about yet. I have had so much fun with this. I appreciate the comments and the many emails I have gotten about it. I decided to post two pictures that I found on a website from my very favorite place on earth, the Chiricahua Mountains in southeastern Arizona. The picture of the water is what we call the bathtub. It is about a mile hike from our cabin. The only way you can get to it is by walking as there is no road, just a trail. The other picture is the entrance to Cave Creek in the Chiricahuas where our cabin is. My reason for putting these up is that I am very thankful to my great grandparents for coming to Arizona. It is a great place to live!

Saturday Night

Our last day in Ireland has been another great one. We wanted to see the National Museum of Ireland since it was closed yesterday. We walked to it because Patrick said it wasn't very far! It wasn't far for him............. I think it was at least 5 miles away, but I walked it with him. Two blocks to him was six to seven to me!!! We just got to the hotel and have to take our car back. I just spoke with the family we were to have dinner with and we won't be able to make it because we just don't have time. We have to be at the airport very early tomorrow morning.

So we will be saying good-bye to Ireland for now. Thanks to everyone for reading the blog. I hope you have enjoyed it.

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And rain fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

Sheila

Irish Stew--A Little of This and a Little of That

It is Saturday morning around 9:00. My computer says that it is 1:59 A.M. in Arizona. I am having breakfast downstairs in the hotel. As I am sitting here, guests from the hotel are coming in for breakfasts. You hear so many different accents and so many different languages. Patrick is still asleep. I think the jet lag and going non stop for the last many days has started to hit us. We need to be out of the hotel by noon. We will be staying at the airport tonight.

Last night we were able to eat dinner in the hotel dining room. It was interesting how they set it up. I mentioned yesterday about pubs being closed on Good Friday and how no liquor is sold. However, if you are a hotel guest, you can eat and drink in the hotel restaurant. They had the doors to the outside locked and the window shades down. In order to get into the restaurant, you had to go through the lobby and past the desk clerk. After hearing the story of the ferry boat and the drinkers yesterday, I don't know why they don't just check into a hotel!! Things were quiet and not much was going on. I started reading "Trinity" by Leon Uris again. This has always been my very favorite book. Leon Uris wrote historical fiction and he always did much research before writing a book. He wrote several books about the Holocaust such as "Exodus" and "Mila 18." He has always been one of my favorite authors. "Trinity" was written in 1976 and I have read it at least four times. I wanted to wait to read it again because I wanted to have this experience.

I mentioned that we had dinner in a thatched pub in County Mayo called The Shebeen. I put a picture of it on an earlier blog. As I was reading, I came across the word shebeen in the book. I don't remember this word at all. During the British rule the Catholics were not allowed to have alcohol so they made their own called poteen. It was a white mountain dew stilled in illegal stills which could be broken down and moved in minutes ahead of the tax collectors and the Royal Irish Constabulary. The actual partaking was done in shebeen, a converted byre buried in the village. Just a piece of trivia for you.......

There has been so much to see and tell about. One thing that I forgot about and remembered when I saw the picture was at the Waterford Crystal Factory. They made the most incredible scene from September 11th. It was the firefighters carrying the body of Father Mychal Judge, the priest and chaplain for the New York Fire Department. I am going to put the picture on today. The picture is great, but it is something to really see in person. I think they should put it on display in the U.S.

During our drive around the country, we saw sheep everywhere. They are even by the side of the roads like you see cattle down in southern Arizona. The sheep had different colors sprayed on them and I am wondering if this is some type of a "brand" so that they know which farmer the sheep belong to. They go up the sides of the mountains to graze and seem to be everywhere--inland, by the coast, etc. There are a lot of woolen mills around and with the cold weather I can understand why. Patrick bought a woolen sweater jacket in Blarney and has worn it most of the time.

The computer battery is starting to run down so I better close. I have really enjoyed writing this blog and think I will continue when I get home. Not sure what the theme will be. Thanks to you, Carol, for encouraging and then teaching me how to do this!!

Dublin--Sightseeing on Good Friday

After breakfast at the hotel, Patrick and I got on a bus tour of Dublin. Because it is Good Friday, many places are closed. When we were making plans for this trip, I didn't realize that Easter was this week. After remembering this, I tried to get reservations for Dublin when we first got here, but there was nothing available because of St. Patrick's Day weekend. It is interesting because everything closes down on Good Friday and on Christmas Day by law. At least that it what a cab driver told me. He also told me that there is a ferry that goes across the Irish Sea to Wales and it takes about four hours. It has become a tradition for "drinkers" to go on this ferry because they can drink as soon as the boat leaves the shore They have bands on the boat now and have made it a big party. It seems to me it would be easier to buy it in advance then spend eight hours on a boat!!

The bus tour was very interesting even though we didn't get to go into a lot of places. Trinity College was open and so we were able to see the Book of Kells. It is the gospel that was written by monks on calfskin. It is absolutely amazing to see what it took to write this. The time and energy is something really hard to comprehend. My friend, Nikki, told me to be sure to go to the Long Room. It is the library of Trinity College and it has over 200,000 books in it. I think that is just about what we have in our house!!!! Kerri would love all of this and would probably appreciate it more than any of us. I hope we will be able to all come back one day soon.

We saw St. Stephen's Green, Dublin Castle, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Phoenix Park, the Guinness Brewery, Jameson Whiskey building, and many other amazing buildings on this tour. You can get off the bus at any stop and then get back on when you are finished. They run every 10 minutes or so.

Patrick wanted to do some shopping and I did also, but we didn't want to go to the same places. We went our separate ways and agreed to meet back at the hotel. I was able to get some souvenirs to bring back that I hadn't found earlier in the trip. When I came out of one store, it was raining really hard. I took a cab back to the hotel and that is when I found out about the history behind Good Friday and all of the closings. The cab drivers are very nice and have lots of information.

We are staying one more night in this hotel and then we move to the Hilton at the airport. The grandparents of two of our kids from our school live here in Dublin. I had told Leo, the father, that we were coming here over break. His wife, Susan, called Kerri just after we left and gave her their phone number here for us to call as they wanted to get together with us. I have met them several times over the years. We spoke to them last night and they have invited us over to their house for dinner tomorrow night. We are hoping we can make it work!

It is almost 5:00 and hopefully we will be able to eat here at the hotel. I must say that even though the food is similar to that in the U.S., the taste is different. Bacon really tastes like ham--I think it must be. The pepper has an unusual taste to it. I have eaten mostly fish and chips and they have been good.

So one more day and then it is back to Arizona. I am looking forward to being warm again!!!!

Dublin, Friday Morning

I don't know why I didn't put this in yesterday. I just wasn't thinking when I was writing. Judy wrote in a comment about our Mary in Douglas. She is not doing well and I said prayers for her, too. I have holy water for her. Judy is right. Mary has a special place in our hearts. She has always been there for us. While we were growing up, she was there every day to make sure that our clothes were clean, our house always looked great for so many friends to come to--which they did all of the time, to fix our lunch every day so we never ate at school during our kindergarten through 12th grades, and to give us love. Since we have been grown, she has always been home when we went there. The summers that we spent in Douglas when my kids were younger were always with Mary at the house. Kerri, Patrick, and Cameron love her, too. Since my mom died, she has stayed at the house for Teresa so that she could be with us. Mary never had a lot of material possessions, but she always has love. Every time any of the cousins came to visit, there she was making tortillas. Cecilia and Marion always hid tortillas so that they would be sure to have some to take home!!! We love you, Mary!!!! I am putting in a special pictures for you, Mary. This is the Celtic Cross at Knock. It is so beautiful in person. Kerri, please make sure she gets to read this.