The last post I placed in this blog was just the beginning of a very long month. We put our beloved dog Luke down on March 1, which ironically was our youngest daughter Sarah's birthday. Luke was her dog growing up and I hated that we had to ruin yet another birthday for her. But we could not stand to see our old friend suffer anymore.
On March 22, I received a call that my sweet Mama in GA was not doing well after what was supposed to be a routine surgery. Mama had already had surgery last June for colon cancer where they removed 1 inch of her colon and said they got it all. A few months later, she was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. She seemed to be doing well and came up to Ohio to spend a couple weeks with us before Christmas. Then in January she developed an infection that just would not go away. Surgery was performed on March 19 (just 4 short days after her 74th birthday) and on March 23, she left this life to go to Heaven to be with my Daddy and all of their siblings.
Over the last 10 years I have lost so many loved ones. All of my aunts and uncles (siblings of my parents and some of their spouses) are gone now. Oh, I know I'll see them all one day. But the grief is still there. Some times I'll think of something I want to tell Mama and I'll start to get my phone and remember, I can't call her anymore. Or I'll be cooking something and need to ask her a question, and remember I can't do that anymore. I used to call her every Thursday on my way home from work and we would just talk about whatever. Or I would call and ask about the weather down there. Or tell her something funny one of my kids did or said.
Our relationship wasn't always a good one. I remember when I was a teenager and I felt like Mama was my worst enemy. We would fight about the dumbest things. I took a lot of grief for things my youngest brother actually did and would get spanked for it. Even when I moved 500 miles away from her, we had misunderstandings about how I lived my life. Boy, if I could do those years over again...
As I grew older and moved back closer to where my parents lived, our relationship grew to more of a friendship. We did a lot together. Everything from shopping to ceramics classes. I loved hanging out with her. When my girls came along, she was so proud and spoiled them rotten. She loved her granddaughters and loved having them near her. Especially when both of them decided to go to college down in GA and they had moved back down there by then.
I can't even begin to tell you what all Mama taught me. Everything I know about cooking for one. She would try a new recipe and end up sending it to me. Oh, we disagreed on how to cook a lot of times because she still liked the old Southern way (bacon drippings in vegetables and almost all meat had to be fried) which is ok some of the time but sometimes, you have to change the way you do things in order to be more health conscious. Mama wasn't having any of that. I learned how to speak my piece from her too and boy has that got me into a lot of trouble. I've learned to temper that with a little tact over the years! Daddy taught me to be independent, much to Mama's dislike. But I learned to stand on my own two feet and she loved that. I learned that the pain I went through was twice as painful for her.
My Mama left a legacy of love when she departed this earth. So many of her friends at First Baptist of Cedartown have shown me that. Along with her friends in the Eastern Star and the Women's Missionary Union. Somebody got sick, you could count on Virginia to bake a cake or pie of some kind and take it to them. You're having a dinner at the lodge, yep Virginia could be counted on to make her Blueberry Delight or something extra special and she would be in that kitchen serving too! She touched so many lives by just her smile and her sweet giving spirit. You also knew if you were in big trouble just by looking at her face. She had "that look."
I was fortunate enough to have a three generation picture made with her and my girls while she was here that Christmas of 2012 and I will cherish those fun times forever. Virginia Hardage was a good woman and she was my friend as well as my mother. She has left a vacancy in my heart as big as the Grand Canyon...but I know she is where she wanted to be and I will see her again some day. Knowing those two things helps fill that vacancy...just a little bit.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Friday, March 1, 2013
Paw Prints on my Heart
If you have ever had a pet, you know that they can work their way into a huge part of your heart and live there and comsume a part of you. If you have never experienced the joy of a little furry 4 legged creature crawl up on your lap or lick you until you giggle like a little kid, you have missed one of life's great joys.
This is the story of Luke the German Shorthair/Chocolate Lab mix that came into our lives 14 years ago and left us just this morning. Luke was a rescue. His mom and all of his siblings but one brother died the day he was born. Luke was bottle fed and carried in a car for the first 8 weeks of his life by the Glaze family, who was his first human family. I knew Ann Glaze through a Bible study we took together and found out about Luke needing a new home when he was 6 months old. He had been living with Ann's sister-in-law and her family and he was getting big in a hurry. They weren't use to dogs and had never had one that promised to be as big as Luke was sure to get. So he came to live with us.
Luke first took up residence in our home as a 6 month old and was the cutest giant piece of chocolate I had ever seen. I knew when I called my hubby and asked "do you know anyone who wants a chocolate lab?" that the question was answered before it was ever asked! The day he came to our home was a sad day for his first adoptive family because they loved him and knew they just couldn't keep him. His little girl human was the saddest of all and she cried the whole time. There was another little girl human living in our home who would grow to love Luke and be one of his best buds for a long time.
Luke went to Puppy Preschool and just barely passed the class. He did not like to go to the down position for anyone by our older daughter Courtney and he went there for her after the first night learning it. Being the Alpha Male, he decided he would try his stubborness on me but he learned quickly that "when Mama speaks, you better move!" Luke had a human "litter mate" in my husband, Terry. They have played on the floor to the point of knocking each other out with their head butting sessions and took great naps on the floor together as one might see a little boy and his dog do. Luke loved to go for rides in the truck with Terry and would sit in the front seat like a human with his front paw resting on the window. Just two good buds hangning out together.
Luke's sleeping place at night for many years was half of a twin bed with our youngest daughter Sarah, the girl he attached himself to. When Sarah went away to college, Luke was lost for quite a while. But then she would come home for a visit and he had his girl back for a while. Sarah is married and has her own 4-legged kids now and brings them to see us occasionally. She still liked to love on Luke though!
This morning was one of the hardest of my life as I watched Luke slip away peacefully. The last few years have been hard for him as he was dealing with arthritis issues - common in most big dogs. Over the last couple of days, he as been a very sick boy and got worse through the night last night. We decided this morning that we needed to get him to the vet and while there, she told us what we already knew. She was almost certain Luke had cancer and was in a great deal of pain. She also thought he may have had a stroke over the last month because of some things she saw in him.
Luke had spent his last day on this earth and in our house. He will spend many more days in our hearts because that's just the way it is with these 4-legged friends we call pets. Yes, they can be messy and time consuming and a committment but when they leave their paw prints on your heart, you cannot wash them off so easily.
Rest in peace "Old Boy," we'll miss you!
This is the story of Luke the German Shorthair/Chocolate Lab mix that came into our lives 14 years ago and left us just this morning. Luke was a rescue. His mom and all of his siblings but one brother died the day he was born. Luke was bottle fed and carried in a car for the first 8 weeks of his life by the Glaze family, who was his first human family. I knew Ann Glaze through a Bible study we took together and found out about Luke needing a new home when he was 6 months old. He had been living with Ann's sister-in-law and her family and he was getting big in a hurry. They weren't use to dogs and had never had one that promised to be as big as Luke was sure to get. So he came to live with us.
Luke first took up residence in our home as a 6 month old and was the cutest giant piece of chocolate I had ever seen. I knew when I called my hubby and asked "do you know anyone who wants a chocolate lab?" that the question was answered before it was ever asked! The day he came to our home was a sad day for his first adoptive family because they loved him and knew they just couldn't keep him. His little girl human was the saddest of all and she cried the whole time. There was another little girl human living in our home who would grow to love Luke and be one of his best buds for a long time.
Luke went to Puppy Preschool and just barely passed the class. He did not like to go to the down position for anyone by our older daughter Courtney and he went there for her after the first night learning it. Being the Alpha Male, he decided he would try his stubborness on me but he learned quickly that "when Mama speaks, you better move!" Luke had a human "litter mate" in my husband, Terry. They have played on the floor to the point of knocking each other out with their head butting sessions and took great naps on the floor together as one might see a little boy and his dog do. Luke loved to go for rides in the truck with Terry and would sit in the front seat like a human with his front paw resting on the window. Just two good buds hangning out together.
Luke's sleeping place at night for many years was half of a twin bed with our youngest daughter Sarah, the girl he attached himself to. When Sarah went away to college, Luke was lost for quite a while. But then she would come home for a visit and he had his girl back for a while. Sarah is married and has her own 4-legged kids now and brings them to see us occasionally. She still liked to love on Luke though!
This morning was one of the hardest of my life as I watched Luke slip away peacefully. The last few years have been hard for him as he was dealing with arthritis issues - common in most big dogs. Over the last couple of days, he as been a very sick boy and got worse through the night last night. We decided this morning that we needed to get him to the vet and while there, she told us what we already knew. She was almost certain Luke had cancer and was in a great deal of pain. She also thought he may have had a stroke over the last month because of some things she saw in him.
Luke had spent his last day on this earth and in our house. He will spend many more days in our hearts because that's just the way it is with these 4-legged friends we call pets. Yes, they can be messy and time consuming and a committment but when they leave their paw prints on your heart, you cannot wash them off so easily.
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