For Clara

Clara Marie, August 8, 2003.

You were the much anticipated and already much loved goddaughter. You, your mom, and I had many adventures and experiences together that Spring and Summer. And I looked forward to a life of being your godmother and auntie. The day you were born was the most beautiful and the most awful day of my life. I couldn't believe that you were gone, what kind of cruel joke was being played on us all?  My heart broke for your parents and I wished then and have always wished that somehow I could take the pain from them. You were a beautiful girl and you remain a beautiful girl in my memories. When a ladybug visits me, especially in the middle of winter, or some unexpected time, or on Christmas Day, I know it's you, coming to say hi to Auntie Dianne. Always remembered, always loved, dearest Clara. ♥

Rest in Peace

 

Hazel Strang, June 29, 1921-August 7, 2011

Mom passed away in the early hours of this morning. Dave is leaving for Penticton in a couple of hours.  I was hoping that he might be able to see her before she died, although she was in a coma. But that was not to be. Mom was the best mother-in-law in the world and I am so lucky to have had her in my life.  When Dave took me out to Penticton in October of 1988 to meet his family--we weren't engaged yet--she said to Dave's Dad, "Meet you future daughter-in-law!"  I guess she knew and must have approved! And now her and Dad are together again. I love you so Mom and I will miss you forever.

Thank you Jolene, Diana, and Jacqueline for your prayers and thoughts.  Having such wonderful, caring friends means so much.  I love you all.

Sad, sad news

We got word this afternoon that Dave's mom had suffered a massive brain hemorrhage earlier today.  Her long time doctor says that she is not likely to survive. Dave is devastated.  I feel so bad for him, especially because he is not there and even getting a flight out there will be too late, according to the doctor. It's so shocking too that this can happen so quickly. The only bright spot is that we were able to be out there just a month ago for her birthday. I love you Mom, always.

Family Time in Penticton



The main reason for our trip to Penticton was to celebrate Dave's mom's 90th birthday on June 29.  Dave's dad died in 1994 and his mom carried on quite well on her own for a number of years until the mid-2000's.  She started to suffer from short-term memory loss and would occasionally have some sort of 'spells' where she would black-out but not lose consciousness. It was decided that Dave's sister and brother-in-law would move into Mom's house, so that she could stay in her home as long as possible.  This was a good idea, but the way they went about things has caused a lot of friction between Dave and his sister.  Some of you know the story.  I won't go into details.  But one thing that illustrates the problems is that Joan and Bob decided the house needed renovating and adding on to. That would have been okay, but they decided that Mom would have the added on part that is a bedroom and bathroom and they would take over her bedroom and have the rest of the house.  I always thought that was kind of tacky, to make her move out of the room she slept in for 50 years....In essence she has the mother-in-law suite, although it is her home!!

Anyway, Dave's mom was a nurse for many years and when she retired she was Head Surgical Nurse at Penticton Hospital.  She took great pride in her job and did it well and was highly respected by her colleagues. She used to garden, cook, bake, and make jams and preserves.  She loves word games like Boggle, Scrabble, etc. Above all she loves her family and is very forgiving of their foibles and faults. I am afraid I am not such a forgiving sort!!! She is the best mother-in-law that I could have hoped for and we have always got along wonderfully well. She is one of the 3 surviving offspring of her mother's 2 marriages which produced a total of 6 children.  One of her twin sisters, Gwen is still alive, as is Jack, her half-brother.  She is now the eldest, as Uncle Bill passed away almost 2 years ago.

One of the highlights of being able to take Duffy with us, was that Mom was at last going to be able to meet Duffy.  She has seen lots of pictures and heard all about him, but never met him.  I was excited about it too! Well, Dave had taken along his laptop. but we couldn't get a connection in Blue River, so it was Sunday before he could check his emails.  And there was one from his sister.  She said that because the 2 Spaniels that her and Bob have, are not well socialized with other dogs, that it would be better if we did not bring Duffy over to the house, and she hoped this wouldn't be a problem!! HA!! Dave and I were both incensed and I fumed for hours about how to handle this. The nerve!!  Just because she hasn't bothered to train her dogs, Duffy is supposed to pay the price and be exiled while her bratty dogs raise havoc?? Dave had met them before and said one was friendly and the other not, and that they were not well behaved. And how was Mom supposed to meet Duffy--at the motel room?? Right! We decided the next day, when we went over, that we would just ignore the email--like we hadn't got it!! Joan was out, but Boob, er I mean Bob had to keep the dogs in the house, as we were sitting outside.  Now was that so hard to figure out? Duffy was good as gold, wandered around, knew there were dogs there and peered in the screen door, trying to see where they were.  Aww, poor Duffy--no fun for him after all!! Duffy and Mom got along fine and he really liked her. He ignored Bob---hahahahahah!! Do I have a smart dog or what???!!! And he ignored Joan too, until we were leaving for home, then she patted him and thumped him on the side--kinda hard I thought. He wasn't too keen on her. We also brought him over to the open house that was the celebration for Mom's birthday. There was a thunderstorm and downpour, so everyone had to be in the house for awhile. He wandered around, but then they wanted to take their brats out, so I was told round him up.  I took him back outside.  While in the house he kept looking for the dogs--he wanted to play. The 2 spaniels were not very nice dogs.  One jumped up all the time--by the way, they are 2 years old, not puppies-- and they barked incessantly.  You could think that you were making friends with them and pat and scratch them, and then all of a sudden, one would turn and be growling at you, while the other jumped up and barked all the time. Joan's "excuse" for them was that there are no off-leash parks in Penticton, or ones easy to get to, or something.  Yeah, well, off-leash parks are highly over-rated and are not the place to 'socialize' dogs. If the dogs are not already well behaved, all you get is a bunch of wild running around, badly behaved dogs and there are the risks of fights and biting.  As well, these kind of parks are breeding grounds for diseases, as many owners don't bother to pick up after their dogs.  Duffy has never been to an off-leash park in his life.  We have had doggy play dates with neighbor dogs, I walk him with a dachshund, he plays with some of the dogs we meet up with on walks, like Ranger the Bernier and that's sufficient. I'm sure Joan and Bob complained bitterly to their golfing friends about how rude we were to bring our lovely, friendly collie over to THEIR house!! Who cares!! The rest of Dave's family loved Duffy, and Uncle Jack said that it's been years since he has seen such a well-behaved dog.  Oh, and he said that Joan's dogs aren't socialized with people, never mind other dogs!! Hahahahahaha!!

Mom and Duffy getting acquainted



Off to see the garden

 

Duffy making himself at home on the upper patio.



At the birthday open house.  Left to right: Dave, Al Larsen, Mom, a friend of Joan's and Bob's behind the flowers,  Val Larsen--she one of Dave's cousins, Auntie Gwen is her mom, and Uncle Jack.

Uncle Jack, emphasizing his point!! Haha!  He loves to talk and tell stories. Another of Dave's cousins, Lorraine, sits to his right.She's one of Auntie Gwen's daughters.

The Aunties!! From the left, Aunt Brenda, Uncle Jack's wife, Aunt Reeta, Uncle Bill's widow, a neighbor from across the street, and Auntie Gwen. Aunt Reeta was the only one paying attention to the fact I was taking a picture!! There were no photo ops for family pictures to commemorate the occasion--sadly. So by the time I realized that, and started to take some pictures, the event was over. There was no cake either:(



After the open house was over and we all had to leave(!), we went to Jack and Brenda's and kept celebrating Mom's birthday! Meanwhile Joan and Bob took her out for dinner at the Golf Club and then they, along with a bunch of their golfing friends went to see the Cirque du Soleil performance. The rest of us were concerned that this might be too much for Mom to do all in one day, but they carried on with the plans. And we weren't invited. Quelle surprize!! But no cake or pictures of Mom and her family--that's kind of poor.  In fact the familiy was marginalized for the whole event. It was all about Joan and Bob, as usual.  Dave and I did take Mom out for supper the night before her birthday to Theo's, the Greek restaurant in town, which we all enjoyed.



Aunt Gwen and Dave

Lorraine and Dave--and Duffy! And yes his ear has popped up again!! It was staying down and I thought we had it licked, but no.  So it's back to the glue!

The "boys"!! We had a good time, ordered in pizza, had a lot of laughs.Too bad Mom wasn't there. 

Happy Birthday Mom!! May you have many more!! We love you!! ♥♥♥♥

OMG!!!!

I have just have to post about this--or rather vent--if for no other reason than to get it off my chest and this is my blog, so I can do so!!  I was reading a blog that a friend has on her blog roll.  I won't name names.  The writer was commenting about finding a lump on her dog and she thought it was at the site of the rabies shot that the dog had a week ago.  But she wasn't sure.  So she took the dog to the vet to confirm and yes it was the site of the shot.  But nothing to worry about.  Nothing to worry about?????????? REALLY??????????? Does the vet have a clue???Is this what he was taught in vet med school, to ignore lumps at vaccine injection sites??? Wow--get another vet. Now!!! And then, if this wasn't bad enough, reading the comments really incensed and appalled me. One prattled that they were glad the dog was okay--yeah, well it isn't, obviously. As if lumps are normal you know!!! Another related that she had to give her dog Metacam before any shots because the dog cried with pain. OMG!!!! Are these people idiots or what?? You would actually continue to give your dog vaccinations when the dog cries in pain??????? I know there are those asinine rabies laws in the USA, but come on. You certainly don't have to give them yearly 'booster' shots of distemper, parvo, and gawd knows what else. I swear, people get more stupid by the day and are so easily brainwashed by doctors and vets into believing that these vaccinations are for the good of their children/dogs/pets when clearly they aren't.

For anyone interested in some reading about the issue of sarcomas at vaccine injections sites, here are some items to start with. " Science of Vaccine Damage" by Catherine O'Driscoll.  She gives an overview of the Perdue study of the changes that vaccines can cause in dogs' immune systems. The Perdue study itself: http://www.homestead.com/vonhapsburg/haywardstudyonvaccines.html. The Perdue study found that the vaccinated dogs developed autoantibodies to many of their own biochemicals: fibronectin, laminin, DNA, albumin, cystochrome C, cardiolipin, and collagen.  The consequences of these adverse reactions are far-reaching, including reducing the body's ability to fight cancers. Also "Fibrosarcomas at Presumed Sites of Injection in Dogs:Characteristics and Comparisons with Non-Vaccinated Site Sarcomas and Feline Post-vaccinal Fibrosarcomas". Journal of Veterinary Medicine. Series A. August 2003, vol. 50, no.6, pp.286-291. From DVM360, online, "Vaccinations: An Overview" by Dr. Melissa Kennedy. In her discussion of adverse reactions to vaccines, she notes about delayed responses which require days or longer to develop, "The vaccine, seen as foreign, elicits a significant inflammation response and is especially true of     adjuvanated vaccine.  The response can manifest as a granuloma or more seriously a fibrosarcoma.". She goes on to say that in dogs the likelihood of adverse reactions correlates with the size of the dog and number of innoculations given--there is a higher risk with small sized dogs and with multiple shots.

It's high time that people began to question the so-called 'conventional' thinking about vaccines.