Remembering my beloved Giz

She was definitely my best friend.

She was with me through all of the important moments of the last 18 years.

She greeted me every time that I came home and seemed genuinely happy to see me.

She was a warm and loving companion during those dark days following my divorce.

She made me laugh when she chased her tail around in a circle.

She had "Greta Garbo" eyes that gave her a unique look.

The doctors told me that I was lucky that she lived as long as she did.

But that doesn't help the emptiness and the hole in my heart that I am feeling tonight...

She was an orphan kitten whose mother had abandoned her.

My ex and two sons surprised me with her to me on my birthday 18 years ago.

It was love at first sight.

I had to be her surrogate mother for those first few months as I fed her with an eye dropper.

She was a feisty kitten, but I enjoyed her high energy.

I loved it at night when she would jump up on the bed and nestle next to me to sleep. I can still feel the soft purring sound that she made once she was in place.

After getting the tip of her tail accidentally caught in the back door, she lived most of her life with a stub of a tail...but still showed many of her emotions through that little tail.

In the last four years her health began to be compromised.

Today I found out that she had acute kidney failure, she was anemic, she had a bladder infection, and she was totally dehydrated....and, of course she has been deaf for the last few years. She was an old lady with a body that was betraying her.

I knew that her health was failing from her behavior the last few days....especially last night.

She seemed to have trouble walking and continued to pee outside of her litter box.

She wasn't eating or drinking and was gradually losing weight.

But last night was eery. It was as if she was trying to tell me that she couldn't handle all of this any more. She looked at me with different eyes and I could sense it.

The veterinarian (who is a dear friend) told me that her condition would only worsen as the days went by and her health would continue to deteriorate. So, today after many tears and much thought, I had Gizmo put to sleep.

It was the hardest decision that I have ever had to make...but I did it out of love and compassion.

I loved her enough to stop her suffering and to let her go.

Dave and I cried together as she drifted off to a peaceful sleep on her favorite purple blanket that we had carried her in to the clinic.

I only hope that she understood my decision and knew how much she was loved.

I will miss her terribly.

Rest in peace, dear Gizzie.

Moments with Owen..... Part 2

Eating, sleeping, pooping, peeing, playing, eating, sleeping, pooping, peeing.....etc.

That is pretty much the routine when you are in charge of an eleven month old.

And, I treasured every moment of it.....

(...well, maybe not the diaper changing parts (!)....but even that gave me special time with this precious grandson of mine.)

Jenny had given me a pretty detailed list of instructions as far as feeding and I tried to stick with it as best as I could....by the end of the day, Owen was to have had 5 bottles and 3 baby food feedings.

whew!

That was a lot to fit into twelve hours! We all laughed and said that it seemed as if we were always feeding him....(which we were.) : )

The video below shows Owen eating and smiling after a long day of window shopping when we took him out into the little Skaneateles city. He was pretty tired out that night....so as he sits in the high chair, the laughter, understandably so, turns into a huge yawn at the end...which we all (those of us still up there when A and J went on their mini vacation) did in unison. I couldn't resist posting it!

(He had been experimenting with some cut up banana finger food and had gotten so much in his hair that when we finally took the video of him...we had given him a little "spiked" banana hairdo.)

And, yes, he did get a bath right after dinner...! : ) Oh, yeah.

Bananas, bananas everywhere!

In this picture he is enjoying the sqwooshy (?) texture of cut up bananas. Please note the banana piece stuck to his forehead. By the time all was said and done, 75% of his body was covered in banana.

The other 25% was on the high chair and/or the floor...

Moments with Owen...Part One

"Grammie, will you babysit Owen while we go away for a few days?"

Ah, music to my ears!

After the anniversary celebration was over, my son and his wife decided to take a little time off together...so, as they headed to Niagara Falls, wineries, a bed and breakfast, and a castle in the upstate New York area....and they left me in charge of my grandson.

Four days of heavenly bliss.

This little bundle of energy entertained and delighted us the whole time. I think that the most touching moments for me were when mom and dad interacted with him, their first great-grandson...I watched the years melt away as they reconnected with a time long ago...

....absolutely priceless and memorable.

A quiet moment with Great-grandpa

...nothing like a good thumb after my bottle....

Great-grandma and "O"...

Bubbles, bubbles everywhere.....

Lake Skaneateles

Walking down from the backyard of the house is a beautifully, clear and gentle lake. My sister and her hubby have a speed boat down there as well as skis, an inner tube for those brave enough to be pulled behind the boat, and kayaks.

...some went kayaking.....

Dave is getting the hang of it.....and ended up loving it as he kayaked all over the lake....

I went out too and found out that it is a great upper body workout rowing that thing...especially when Dave said "Want to race?"....

and, of course, I did.....and exhaustedly lost to him....*groan*

I should have gotten a head start, don't ya think?

...some went boating.....

....a "cruise" at sundown. Ahhhhhhhh....

and some stayed cool on land.....

....like Owen who enjoyed playing in the blow up pool!

This is fun!

Sooooo....this is what grass tastes like!?!??!!

Fred and Wilma???

Continuation of the "Flintstones" skit....

So, Saturday night is to be the big celebration in Skaneateles.

Chairs are assembled around the great room as everyone prepares to do their individual presentations.

But, first let's go back in time a bit...

Since we all had to pick a couple to write a skit about....I thought that doing the Flintstones as my mom and dad would be cute....easy song to do....fun costumes to put together, etc.

Dave, on the other hand, wasn't so thrilled with my idea. Dressing up like Fred Flintstone must not have appealed to him. Hmmm. I wonder why? : 0 Anyway, he tried to convince me to consider doing Archie and Edith among other famous couples.. But, those characters just didn't really seem to work for me as my mom and dad....

So, I eventually won out and Wilma and Fred it was to be. I made some clay "bones" and strung them together to create a necklace for my character. I also formed a ring to wear on my finger....it was quite a "rock"! I took two brown oversized t-shirts and adorned them with different animal print patches as well as a bow-tie on Dave's. I made all of the edges of the shirts jagged and rough. The outfits were ready....all I had to do now was convince Dave of how much fun this was going to be!

The song was put together and "props" were made to go along with it. I never really talked about it much to Dave before the big event....I didn't want him freaking out or anything....

Now, it is Saturday afternoon in Skaneateles and I decided that Dave and I needed to go through it at least once before the big "show". Suddenly, he is changing phrases and redoing parts of it.

At least he was beginning to get "into it" a little, I thought....so I made the changes and let it be hoping that his enthusiasm would come alive that night...

As the evening approached, the caterer arrived to begin to prepare the dinner. He was a delightful Italian man who not only was going to cook our meal, but also brought along a huge jug of some of his homemade wine. So, there he was, cooking and drinking....drinking and cooking....and then drinking some more.

Next thing I know, Dave is drinking along with the cook.

Now this brew had to be at least 80 proof vino (ok, exaggeration here...but, it was a lot stronger than store-bought wine) ....but, that didn't stop Dave.

The other family members begin to arrive and the festivities begin.

Dave continues to enjoy the cook's moonshine.

Suddenly, Dave approaches me and says that we really need to rehearse our song and skit.

So, we do.

Now I see that he is really getting into it...and begins to do some directing as we are rehearsing. He decides how we should make our exit and how we must slow down our singing during the "touching" part of the song...etc etc.

It was hysterical to see him in action...especially coming from a man who was pretty much disinterested in doing this at all.

So, back to where I started...the family gathers and the skits begin. Each one is cuter and more creative than the next. My youngest sister was a pregnant hippie as she and her hubby dressed up in tie dye to sing "I Got You Babe"....her son and his girlfriend act out the scene from Fiddler on the Roof...."Do You Love Me?"....my oldest sister dresses up like Jackie Kennedy complete with pillbox hat and white gloves...there were trivia games involving facts about my parents...and on and on....

When it was our turn to do the Flintstones, my little "wino" and I really put on a show and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Thank heavens for the cook's moonshine...it turned a relatively quiet Dave into an animated Fred Flintstone.

Yabba dabba dooooooo! *hic* : )