Farewell Faithful Friend

Rest In Peace,  Zoey,  June 7, 2013  Loved and Loved

 

Zoey was a rescue, from The Catahoula Rescue.  Puppies are cute - but they are tons of work!  Rescue dogs usually have basic training, and are simply looking for their forever home.  Reasons vary, marriages split up and the dog is a burden, people get bored, financial situations change, people die - whatever the reason - there are lots of dogs that need homes.  Puppies are an easy sell - but dogs require you to open your mind and just LOVE them. 

 

Back to our Zoey...firstly, she was a pleasure to be around.  We all have our faults, and some of hers may have been more pronounced than ones in other friends (furry or otherwise) – but the reality is, she truly was a blessing in all the lives that she touched, sniffed and licked. 

Zoey was loud.  She snored, sneezed and barked loudly.  These habits, I am quite certain, had mischievous ulterior motives…to get us up and moving, to spend quality time with her, or reward her with some tasty treat.  She ate like a vacuum, and was excellent at keeping our floor clean of the crumbs that tend fall from the mouths of our babes!  She was also very effective at cleaning runny noses – a job which makes me cringe – so for that I was grateful (and, to be perfectly honest, grossed out).  She was always in a good mood, always ready to hang out, play, be a silent partner – or an active, vocal one.  She had energy to spare – and even put her kids to shame.  When I think of loyalty – I can say she exuded that valuable (and rare) trait.  She loved her friends – and her family more than we will ever know.  Zoey was patient, kind and kept us laughing.  She had enough naughty in her that time-outs occurred (just like a child!) – in which she was relegated to the outdoors, or an area of the house that kept her trouble-making ways contained.  She was a great accepter of hugs, kisses and funny poems – and took it all in stride - with just the right cocking of her head to make it seem like she could understand every word that was recited to her.  Her soulful eyes were always peaceful and warm.  It was impossible to be lonely when she was around.  And she was tough!  Even though she suffered from a disability – she was fiercely protective of the occupants of our house – whether it be human intruder or another sort – she kept us all safe.  She was our beacon of joy and safety.  Any kid that entered our house was family, and when she found them on the street again – she shepherded them in her little flock and kept them orderly, so as to not lose one. 

I despise that I am using the past tense, because, our four-legged-squirrel-chaser, passed away  on Friday night.  Funny how dogs fit so well into our lives, that you speak to them (and of them) like they are human. Zoey's death was sudden, and caused buckets of tears from our entire house, from our friends, and much sadness in our other rescue dog, Riley.  It happened so quickly, but as she was rescued and adopted into our house with love three years ago, when she left her furry, grey and black dappled body on Friday, she left it being loved all the more for what she brought to our little family.  We were lovingly petting her and whispering words of love as she passed, in her own home, in her own bed.  And when that lively spark fled those pretty brown eyes, we closed them for good so we could let her have eternal rest. 

She was a blessing – and I hope for any of you that may have  been blessed with a swat from a big paw, looking to be pet and loved – you oblige.  Because you never know when that exchange of love will be the last.  Thank you all for reading about our Zo-Zo…I believe a memory shared is a flower bloomed in a garden, somewhere.

 

I can't believe it but...we have lost a little piece of our heart...but I know we'll be okay.

Happy Memories,

 

Kathy Pettit

 

Chasing Home - Or Finding It

Hands Painted Like the World

This week I was fortunate enough to have my application accepted to attend a curated audience for the TedxWaterloo event, held at Centre in the Square.  It was an exciting moment - and so inspiring!  The theme was Chasing Home.  It begged the questions, is home where you live now, where you're from, the building you live in - or is it the people that you are surrounded by that make home, home?  From microbial biologists, particle physicists, slam poets, paediatric oncologists, singers, the creator and deliverer of the Mars Rovers to a female handy woman - it was an awe-inspiring event!

For me, the past is not home.  It was a place that led me to where I am today, but it's not home.  My home is in the here and now.  In the walls that make up my house.  In the laughter of my kids, in the smell of coffee made by hubby, in the wagging tails of my two dogs.  It surrounds me in the friends that make me smile, in the bed where I lay, in the garden where I grow.  It fills me with love, hope, and laughter.  It grounds me when I am too excited, too sad, or too stressed.  My home is where I can kick off my high heels, slip my feet into a pair of floppy, pink slippers, and be myself.

Others may argue that home IS where they come from - especially if their parents still reside in the house where they grew up.  That symbol of home may strike the flame that warms the heart when thinking of home.  I have come to learn that home is as personal a place as the shelves of our hearts where we store the memories that made us who we are.  The microbial biologist argued that the community of bacteria and creatures that live in our gut - have a right to be there.  They WANT to be there.  It is there home.  We live in a symbiotic relationship with them - even though we can't see it.  The work they do for us is often ignored - but they are living creatures - without whom our bodies would not be in good working order.  So maybe home is where everyone or everything is kept in balance.  Instead of a location, it is an existence.  An existence of having symbiotic relationships with those that think of you, when they think of home.

Try acting as if your entire community were your home.  Treating everyone within it with respect and appreciation!  Because if we all thought of home as broader-reaching and made meaningful by connections as opposed to thinking more of the walls of our physical home, we could potentially make the world a much warmer place.

I can't believe it but...TEDxWaterloo was a thrilling experience! 

Happy home-making,

Kathy Pettit :)

The Haves, The Have-Nots, and The Have-Somes

Don't let anyone go hungry!

Make a difference for a fellow Canadian!
My bad day, when the last of the milk has been spilled by a careless gesture of a 6 year old boy, where I am out of apples to pack on lunches because I forgot to add them to my shopping list the day before, where I jump into the van, frazzled and hurried only to discover it's on empty...I take a deep breath.  I know it will be okay.  I'll buy more milk on the way home from work, I'll send a banana instead of an apple, and I'll rush to the gas station before work and top up the gas in the vehicle I am fortunate to have.  And when I get to the destination - which is a job that I get paid to do (and like!) - I roll up my cushioned chair up to my computer, log in, and start my day.  I start it with a feeling of gratefulness.

I am a Have-Some.  I have what I need - mostly when I need it.  I don't have everything I want - but if I did I wouldn't appreciate it.  I am blessed to not be a Have-Not.  I have solutions to my problems.  I have the ability to change my situation.  But others in my community are not so fortunate.  There are people that go hungry, that weep because their kids go to school hungry, seniors that choose a roof over their heads rather than 3 meals a day. 

At church on Sunday, Father Don stirred emotions in me, that triggered this posting.  He shared a need in our immediate community.  His suggestion - was brilliant on two levels.  The first suggestion was to pass up something in the grocery store that we usually tend to buy because we want to.  A "luxury" item, if you will.  Then we are to put that dollar value into a collection box which will help purchase grocery cards for this particular family.  The second, and frankly most important, point was to not focus on the money we were donating - but rather to experience the "going without" - to feel the sacrifice.  The emotion that this family has to go through on a regular basis, on a miniature scale.  It is fairly easy to drop a few dollars towards a good cause when reminded of the need - but to FEEL the need - now that is another story. 

I encourage you to figure out your "sacrifice" - and make a difference in your community.

I can't believe it but...if we were all Have-Somes, our community would be a better place.

Happy Sacrificing,

Kathy Pettit

Mission (Im)Possible?

Every now and then I have check the map and make sure we are headed in the right direction.  (Now, I am "mapically" challenged, but you'll get where I'm headed.)  I feel a little bit like we have veered off the intended path and are headed in the wrong direction.

The "slinging sisters" (and by slinging I mean fists and insults) and the "handy" man (and by handy I mean a little too hands on!) are starting to let their emotions get the better of them.  I'm not paid to referee, nor do I find the job very appealing!  So - Hubby and I have come up with Pledge or Mission Statement for our family.

Families are like a small business.  Money is exchanged, goods and services are changed hands, people get tired of their job....and when they get tired they stop caring.  Like all good businesses, having a mission statement, or a plan is vital to its success.  We felt it was time to come up with a Family Mission Statement to strengthen our resolve to be better parents and raise kind, generous individuals who will be engaging contributors to the future.  So, unbeknownst to them, our next family meeting will introduce this concept to them.  We will hang it on every floor in our house.  When we feel the referee whistle come out, we will guide all parties involved over to the poster and get them to read it out loud.  We are hoping that the messages hit home, and they can see beyond their minute grievances and stop the anger.  We will encourage them to use it to redirect Hubby and I, if they feel we are not living up the set out expectations.  (That should be interesting!) 

So Pickle, Peach and Coconut better be prepared for the mission ahead of them.  However, encouraging them to commit everything they do with kindness in mind - cannot be bad.  Wish us luck in this venture - and think about committing to paper your own family mission statement.

I can't believe it but...I am hoping those words make us better, kinder individuals!

Happy Mission Planning,

Kathy Pettit

If YOU Think a Fish Should Climb a Tree...

...and it doesn't - you're going to be very disappointed in that fish!  A friend and neighbour shared Einstein's insight with me, after a glass of wine (or two) and it took me a minute to realize what he was really trying to say.  Then I got it.  Wow. I poured my self another glass of wine to really get into "ponder" mode!  I pondered so much that it's a wonder I remembered this conversation at all :)  The other side is, not only will the fish believe itself stupid, but so will those who judge and believe it should be able to climb a tree.

How many times in life do we put expectations on others on what WE think they SHOULD do?  Or what WE would do if we were them?  I don't live in a glass house - but I'm still not throwing any stones.  I am plainly guilty.  The easy solution to criticize those around us is to assume we are better, smarter and more experienced - we think we have all of the answers to everyone else's problem.  Those assumptions are based on our own personal experiences, and we relay that knowledge assuming every detail is identical to our own.  Life doesn't work that way.  God blessed us each with unique talents and experiences.  If instead, we used those experiences as a stepping stone to HELP those that are struggling - rather than judge them - we would be doing such good in the world. 

If I think a fish should climb a tree, and base my judgement of that said fish on the fact that it can't - then of course my perception is going to be negative!  If I humbly (and this is a hard thing to do - no doubt!) took a step back and really thought about it, I might discover that the task would be an impossible feat.  Instant reaction, however, is to judge, give advice and criticize.  Shame on me.  It is the kinder, more thoughtful person that pauses before speaking and shares that knowledge with me, that in actual fact, it would be impossible for that fish to climb a tree.  My perspective was the assumption that animal was defective in thought, and action.  But that would be wrong.  Only from taking the time to learn about that creature could I discover that the task is impossible.

My goal is to work harder at pausing before giving opinions and advice.  To not judge harshly on decisions made by someone else that is prepared to take ownership for their actions.  I want to really try and see their side of the story and LISTEN to what they saying.  This will be hard for me.  I am going to try, readers.  I hope this posting has made you think about yourself, and how you can positively influence those around you.

I can't believe it but...I discovered something really deep and meaningful whilst enjoying my wine.

In deep thoughts,

Kathy Pettit