Beat this, Lassie.

We all know the cliche'd "What, Girl, Timmy fell in the Well?" routine. Lassie the collie (actually played by a male dog) saves the day, every time.

At 4:15 this morning, Mookie wouldn't stop pestering me. Click, click, click go the toenails on the floor. Click, click, click, NUDGE! with that long collie nose. Click, click, click. Click, click, click SHOVE! No amount of "schttt!" or "quiet" or "go lie down" or "get on your couch" would make him quit being such a pain while I tried to sleep. So I got up, irritated that he was too hungry to sleep, or that his joints wouldn't permit him rest. I grabbed his collar and steered him to his dog-couch, which he steadfastly refused to get onto.

And then I heard it: Beeeeep. Hmmm, something electronic is going off. Sounds like a battery from the smoke alarms. Every 4 minutes for well over an hour, I did my best to trace where the sound was coming from (my hearing makes it difficult to pinpoint noises). He stayed with me the whole time, as I checked the upper and lower floors, each room for the smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors or whatever it was that might be making the noise. (I did finally find it.)

If it had been a real emergency, I know he would not have rested till he rousted me from bed too. What an awesome dog!

12 years, 8 months, 18 days

A new experience, a beautiful baby girl.
So long awaited, prayed for, dreamed of....
She's arrived. We will call her Carolyn.

Glorious white-gold fluff for hair
Intense blue eyes.
We will dress her as the faerie child she is.

The measuring and counting begins.
How many pounds, ounces, and inches long?
10 fingers, 10 toes.
1 diaper change (how do we do this?).
2 nursing sessions
2 more hours before we get to go home.

Dozens of days of learning how to Teach her.
Look, How she Thrives!

Toddling, walking, running, dancing
so full of life and desire to explore.
Everyone who meets us tells us we should have more!
Such a happy child, pirouetting across the kitchen floor.

1st day of kindergarten!
She skips off without fear;
she knows school is a happy place for children.
So excited when she returns home.
1 delightful day,
2 wonderful weeks,
a semester full of A's.

Her teachers say she's One of a Kind,
and they wish that they could clone her.
Stellar student, great attitude, always willing.
A friend to all.

A Twinkle in her eye;
her pets she keeps close by.
such a sense of love and of humor!
Even her rabbit has a leash.

5th grade.
One visit to the doctor's office.
Too many tests.
One scared family.
Who refuse to give up.

Such faith! Such strength!

7th grade.
Drums, Drama, Dancing
Even in a box.

One sick, sick child.
Golden child, laughing, refusing to accept Cancer as an end.
"Next week I'm coming back to school."

77 bouquets
One small set of offerings to an effervescent soul,
to her life filled with joy, for the ways she touched each of us.


And the butterflies ascend toward heaven.