Search Results for: blog kitty hugs and puppy dog kisses

Wagging My Tail Goodbye to the Pets Blog

I’m sitting in my office looking out the window watching the snow melt from the rooftops and bushes as I’m writing this. Last night we got measureable snow, a bit of an oddity in December for us here in Nashville. Whenever we get snow like this now I think about the first winter I was writing for Families.com. We got snow one February and I took Murph outside to play in it, then wrote about it as my blog for the day later. How much inspiration I’ve drawn from my pets over the past two years since I first began … Continue reading →

Black Clouds

Have you ever seen a cartoon or a comic strip featuring some poor soul who has a black cloud overhead following him (or her) wherever he (or she) goes? They can’t get a break. Everywhere they turn, everything they do, doom awaits. I’ve had days where I’ve felt like that. Days where no matter what I try, I can’t shake the black cloud. I know Wayne has too. Usually we don’t experience it at the same time, though, so whoever’s got the sun on their side tries to stand as close as possible to the other. That way we can … Continue reading →

Rain or Shine, My Pets Are There

This hasn’t been a very easy year for me. In fact, of all my years on this Earth to date, this past one has been the most trying by far. And the most blues-filled. One After the Other It started last summer when we tried to move back to Jacksonville. Thankfully plans changed, but instead of life sailing along unencumbered as I’d hoped, I got sick in November –the same week Wayne moved home and we left to go to Denver for Thanksgiving. Then Wayne got sick, and I had a relapse and fell ill again. Come January and February … Continue reading →

Going “Home” – Who Will Be Waiting for Me?

Ever since her stroke last Tuesday, my mom has been talking about “going home.” How her people are waiting for her. Aunt LaLa (her mom’s sister), Pearl (her sister), her mom, and her dad…all of whom have passed away. Yesterday she was particularly adamant that she had to get up and get going home because her people were there waiting for her. “Your people are here, Dorothy,” Wayne said. “Courtney, me, Murphy and the cats. You’re not going home just yet. No one’s there.” “That’s true. I do have to go by myself. But I don’t want to. I don’t … Continue reading →

Cats (and Dogs) Do a Body Good

I was reading an issue of Woman’s World today that had a blurb called “The purr-fect way to protect your heart!” Of course this caught my eye. “Sorry, dogs, but when it comes to keeping pet owners healthy, cats win paws-down! That’s the news from a recent large-scale study, which found that owning a cat slashes your risk of a heart attack by 40% and reduces your risk of stroke and heart failure by 30% compared to those who’ve never had a cat or dog—and this was true even after accounting for other risk factors, such as age, blood pressure … Continue reading →

What If Animals Hadn’t Been Okay?

Over in Marriage today I reflected on circumstances growing up that influenced my decision not to have children. Human ones at any rate. I’ve always had a pet or two, but I’ve treasured them as more than mere “pets.” Like many of you, my pets are my kin. Once they enter my house and heart, they become family. But why is that okay? If I’m going to cherish them as my children, why not have real ones? I think it’s because just as I was raised in an environment where kids were considered a burden, I was also raised in … Continue reading →

The Gift That Proved Most Precious Indeed

When Wayne gave me my Christmas gift (a camera) a little early last year I was super excited. I knew it spelled trouble for Murphy, Mr. Meow, and Tabby because I’m snap happy. Being the proud mom I am I think everything they do or every pose they make is worthy of a click. As it turns out it’s a good thing I’m that way. Goodbye for a While When my sister called in the middle of March to tell me about our mom being admitting to the hospital I knew I was going to be away from home for … Continue reading →

The Personal Pet Therapy Project

One of my resolutions for 2008 was seeing about getting me and Murph involved in a pet therapy program. Well, recent developments have certainly seen to it that this resolution will be kept this year. A Family Affair Not only is Murphy going to be involved with the pet therapy project, but so are Mr. Meow and Tabby. And the person we’re going to concentrate our therapeutic energies on is my mom, who in addition to her dementia was also recently diagnosed with lung cancer. Grandma Dorothy Moves In On Wednesday March 19 I flew to Denver. My mom had … Continue reading →

Kitty Hugs and Puppy Dog Kisses

Some days nothing comforts a hurting heart quite like kitty hugs and puppy dog kisses. I enjoy these every day, but some days they’re so much more meaningful than others. Both yesterday and today among the more meaningful variety. Earlier today over in Marriage I wrote about what love is and how Wayne’s love is so precious to me during hard times. But so is the love Murphy, Tabby, and Mr. Meow give me. The hard times I’m referring to is the bad news I received last night about my mom. My sister called to inform me she was admitted … Continue reading →