It’s been an exciting few weeks around the Techel (Teckel – German for dachshund) homestead of late with new living room furniture delivered two weeks ago, plus updating new decor and bringing some of the other decor to a consignment shop. From dark furniture for almost 25 years of maroon, dark greens and a splash of light blue, to Santa Rosa Linen, soft blues and greens, a bit of gray and a splash of purple, it almost feels like our house just may lift off its foundation and fly! It’s amazing how switching to these new shades has the space feeling more open and lighter in energy.
Today we are on our way shortly to order an Amish kitchen table John and I fell in love with over two months ago…yup, when looking for living room furniture. Isn’t that the way it always goes? We just couldn’t get that table out of our heads. We feel blessed to have been gifted some money to make this all possible.
So where does Gidget fit into all this? Well, I did share with her that she is blessed too in that she is the only doxie to get new furniture as she enjoys snuggling with me on the new sofa each night. But then there’s her new updated space she now has in the kitchen also.
For eight months she has been residing in what could be called a mansion, which was Kylie’s kennel. We felt it was of comfort to her when we had to say goodbye to Kylie last November. Talking around the chiminea last night, John said, “I think Gidget would be okay with a smaller kennel, don’t you think?”
I wasn’t sure at first and wanted to honor what is right for her. But the more I thought about it, I said, “You know, she really is such a different, and calm dog now. Perhaps she would be okay.”
Gidget really is a new dog the last few months as I think I’ve mentioned before here on my blog. It was a tough first half of the year as I went through some deep soul work, which Gidget was pivotal in guiding me through. And a quick update: I continue to write about this in a new book I’m working on.
So I thought it was worth a shot to see if she’d be okay with downsizing into a tiny home for her space in the kitchen. With one condition: If she didn’t like it and seemed upset by it, we’d put the other kennel back. It was agreed.
This morning she watched as I took the big kennel down. I talked to her the whole time sharing with her how exciting this was for her. I said, “You are such a big girl now, Gidget. I’m so proud of you. This new space will be just for you and will be so cozy.”
I took the foam bedding from the large kennel and cut it down to fit the smaller kennel, so she’d still have some familiar smells. I placed a rug under the kennel and her blanket inside and John took the door off the front so she would have easy access.
Within moments she hopped right in and snuggled under her blanket. Snug as a bug on the rug, in her new happy space. I thought of Mikey from the Cheerio’s commercial years ago, “He likes it! He likes it!”
So Gidget gets in the trend with downsizing and de-cluttering, inviting in lots of new energy we are all relishing in these days!
If you come to Elkhart Lake, our little village of 950 residents, which swells to well over the thousands in the summer, especially on race weekends, you just might be lucky enough to meet this handsome fellow. His name is Boone.
As you meander down to the artisans and farmer’s market on a Saturday morning, strolling east or west on Rhine Street, across from the post office, is a big beautiful blue and white Victorian style home, with a large porch, where you just may spot the official greeter of our small town.
How could this not make your day walking by?! It sure did mine when I loaded Gidgie in her dog stroller and walked to the market this morning. My whole heart lit up with joy to see Boone hanging over the porch rail to catch the eye of someone walking by and do what he does best…make ’em smile and fill their hears with joy.
He happens to belong to my husband’s cousin, Connie, and her husband Pat. After their last dog passed away, Pat just didn’t know if he could do it again. The heartache of losing an animal sometimes too much to bear for some. But a trip to a nursery called, Honeymoon Acres, a few months later in a nearby town, and who would they meet as part of their helpful staff? An English Cream Golden retriever named Roy. They were smitten and..well, you know how this story ends. 🙂
Not only has Boone wound his way into Connie and Pat’s hearts, but he has the hearts of many that visit our small town. And many return, looking for Boone, hoping to catch him hanging out on the porch. As is the case often, as I experienced in my days with Frankie who was well known in town years ago, many would ask if I remembered them when they met Frankie that “one summer.”
And I remember fondly, how I’d always smile politely, as Connie and Pat do now when people stop to see Boone and ask if they remember them from that last time they met Boone. Perhaps it’s not important to recall faces, but the connection and joy felt when other’s meet Boone, and the joy Connie and Pat get in sharing him with other’s. Now that, that is the language of animals…it’s what you feel with the heart.
And I can’t help but end this post today, thinking of the bumper sticker I used to have on my car, “Bark less, wag more.”
A change was in the wind. And as life goes, we never know what exactly that change may be. I’m reflecting this morning on the animal card I pulled last week which was Fox, and her message to adapt to the changes that are a constant in life.
Little did I know my message in that Reading I shared with you was also going to be significant for me and John, and our dear sweet Kylie.
The temperature unusually warm, and the winds blustery, as Kylie and I entered the veterinarian clinic yesterday morning with concerns that she’d not finished eating her dinner on Thanksgiving, and turned away from her food a few hours earlier. Just as the weather unusual in Wisconsin for November, so was this not eating for Kylie.
After an exam by the vet, she thought perhaps Kylie’s arthritis was to the point that we needed to put her on a strong anti-inflammatory. Perhaps the pain was causing her not wanting to eat. First, blood work needed to be done in order to prescribe the meds.
I sat on the floor in the exam room with Kylie as we waited for the results. While I’d been sensing something lately, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, and also wishing it wasn’t what I thought perhaps it may be. I’d witnessed Kylie, while still eating her food daily, was eating in a slower pattern, and sometimes panting, though I thought perhaps it had to do with the warmer weather we’d been having. Her ability to jump into bed was also becoming a bit more challenging where she loved to snuggle with John every night.
At the age of twelve years old and one month, I knew our time was more limited than ever before with Kylie. While I’d managed her arthritis with advanced supplements and recently laser therapy, John and I had begun to have the tough discussion of how to handle her aging process in a dignified and graceful way. Heroic measures, meaning we would not let her suffer, would be taken should she be diagnosed with a terminal disease, or testing, probing and medications that would affect her quality of life.
After she’d not finished her food Thursday evening I was concerned. I sat beside her on the rug in the kitchen, petting her soft head. Silently I talked with her. I said, “Kylie, if you are feeling the need to move on, I’ll be okay. I want what is best for you.”
Before going to bed Thanksgiving evening, I surrendered to Spirit and said that I wanted what was in Kylie’s highest good, and that this wasn’t about me, but what was best for her.
As I stroked her fur sitting on that exam floor waiting for the blood work results, I, of course, hoped for the best. But when the vet came back in the room, shaking her head side-to-side, my heart began to beat faster.
Sliding down the wall, the vet knelt beside me, and shared with me that Kylie’s liver levels were over four times what is considered normal.
While in a way befuddled by the staggering high numbers, I also knew Spirit had guided us to this moment. This decision, though gut wrenching, also became one of peace, left with no doubt that helping her cross over to be among the stars was the right thing to do.
After I called John to come meet me at the clinic, I hugged Kylie so tight around her neck and spilled countless tears onto her soft fur. And then I became aware, remembering my last moments with Frankie. I wanted the same for Kylie, too. And so I talked to her.
I thanked her for being the steadfast rock she was for our family. She was only six months old when Frankie became paralyzed. And she would live her life helping me care for three disabled dachshunds. Never complaining and always going with the flow…even when it was met with many bumps in the road. She stayed steady and grounding.
In my mind I pictured her on a stage, like an olympic athlete ready to presented with a gold medal. And talking to her out loud, still hugging her around her neck, I presented to her the Best. Dog. Ever. Award. Because that she was.
The sweetest, kindest soul of a dog I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. How blessed and honored I am to have called her my friend.
Just before five o’clock last night, already dark, I walked to the bedroom to pull down the blinds on the patio doors. And between the branches of the large tree off our deck, the crescent moon caught my eye with clouds encircling it, swirling in a eerie, but mystical and comforting way.
The thought that Kylie was now among the stars entered my mind. I smiled and my heart felt comforted as I said silently, “I’ll love you always my dear girl. Always.”
Though there was a large void present last evening, and we will feel it for some time to come, John and I reflected on our many memories of Kylie. We laughed and we cried.
Before heading to bed, I turned to The Wisdom of the Oracle card deck I’m currently studying from in Oracle School. While I felt hesitant in one way to pull a card, the other part of me trusted it would be what I needed most.
Kylie was born on the 24th of October in 2005 and passed on the 24th of November of 2017. Taking two plus four equals six which is my favorite number, after shuffling the deck, I counted down six cards from the top.
Time for a Nap #24
While losing those we love is one of the toughest things we endure as human beings, along with making a decision we feel is most dignified and graceful even though gut-wrenching, Spirit showed me in that moment that life with all it’s many sorrows, also offers us magic beyond what we can even sometimes imagine. And we must trust and keep our faith that everything is perfect.
This card was confirmation of how the day unfolded and that the timing was exactly as it was meant to be that Kylie was called home to live among the stars…
The fox asleep in the crescent of the moon, and the moon, which I’d just been called to three hours before, thinking of Kylie. A change was indeed in the wind and fox reminded me what Kylie also taught me so well, that I must flow and adapt to changes in life and not get stuck or trapped in sadness.
And the message of this card not only for Kylie, who now naps in peace for eternity, but that it is time for me to also take a nap and a break. Caring for a senior dog, and three disabled dogs at different times for the past eleven years, while filled with much joy, has had me feeling very tired myself of late.
And while, I’d give anything to hug Kylie just. one. more. time… my faith has strengthened over the years to know that I can connect with her at anytime I want just by being present with that thought. And so she will always be with me.
And to all those who loved her…I say a grateful thank you for sharing your adoration and love of her with me. It is of great comfort to know how much she was loved.
