Sunday, June 20, 2010

Bless the Fathers

A father is a special person to have in your life.

My own father is now deceased, but I think of him often and always miss having him in my life. My dad was bigger than life. He was a unique person who either brought you tremendous happiness or great aggravation. There wasn't much middle ground with Dad. And, he liked it that way. He lived his life on his own terms and he wanted to have as much fun as he could.

Family was very important to my father. He kept in touch with his sister who still lives in Brooklyn and we made trips up to visit frequently. And, I was Daddy's girl. I could do no wrong in Daddy's eyes. Nobody else has ever loved me so much that I could bring anything -- good and bad -- to them knowing I wouldn't be judged in the process of figuring out what to do next.

I hope I too have imparted this complete love to my own children and that they too know I am always here for them no matter the circumstances.

This is the most important thing I learned from my father.

It's that simple, simple.

Thanks, Dad. Rest in peace.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Adeu, Dear Ivy


At Christmas 2008, my family presented me with a baby African Pygmy Hedgehog, whom I named Ivy. I didn't know anything about hedgehogs, so I turned to the Internet and quickly came up to speed. One thing we did was build Ivy a playpen environment where she had lot's of room to explore, run, and tunnel. But, after awhile, Ivy abruptly stopped doing all these things.

It turned out Ivy had developed WHS -- Wobbly Hedgehog Syndrome, a fatal degenerative neurological disease similar to human MS. The symptoms start at the animal's rear legs with progressive paralysis up to the head. I'll spare the gory details, but Ivy soon required hospice care of hand-feeding, massages, rotation to minimize developing bed sores, etc.

While it was time consuming to provide this level of care, as long as Ivy wasn't in pain I (and my other family members) were willing to do this for her.

Ivy died last night.

I'm glad that I didn't have her euthanized because I felt she deserved the right to live as long as she could make it with our care. She lived 6 months in this progressively worsening condition.

I'm so sad that this sweet animal had to go through this horrible, progressive disease. I don't think she was in pain. Now her ordeal is over. I'll miss her. I grow very attached to her during the daily hand-feeding and cleaning and massages. This was not a good existence.

Shame on breeders and pet stores for allowing this genetic condition to be passed to future generations (and to the pet owners who are unprepared to deal with the extensive care required.)