Wilson the Wonder Dog

Yesterday was a very sad day for our family. After 14 years of having Wilson in our life, he died. First, I'll start at the beginning. Wilson was born the day after we got married on May 17, 1997. We got him from a breeder on Long Island. In June we drove out to pick out our puppy. We had narrowed it down to two and were ready to mark our pick when Wilson came walking over. We said, "Wait a minute. I think this guy likes us." So I guess you could say Wilson picked us. About 6 weeks later we drove out again to bring our baby home. Puppy Wilson had a wonderful life. We were a young, outdoors couple who took him walking around the lake, hiking in the mountains and camping all over, including a long road trip to New Mexico. Wilson loved a party and often left home looking for more people to hang with. One time we drove around the neighborhood trying to find him and he was at a big party- winning over the hearts of everyone there. Wilson helped us meet people from the neighborhood. Often people would say- Oh- I know you- you live with Wilson. Sometimes Justin would jokingly call him a pound puppy and one day he lived up to that name. While Justin was sick in bed, he ran away. When the dog catcher said, "Come", he ran right into her van. We bailed him out. Eventually Wilson had to start sharing our attention with our new babies (human this time.) At first he was not a big fan of the colicky screaming baby. But soon Laurel started to eat Cheerios and he realized he had a wonderful new food source of something other than IAMS. Soon Laurel and Owen grew big enough to play with Wilson. He never knew what to expect but he always kept his temper in check.
So here we are fourteen years later. It has been a very sad week. Wilson started to get sick on Monday. After several days we finally had to bring him to the vet yesterday. It was so hard to say good-bye to someone who has lived in our house for 14 years. Laurel and Owen had never known a time without him. But we knew we had a lot of good memories and we wanted to keep it that way.
Anyone who has said goodbye to a pet knows- words cannot express how sad it is. All of those daily routines suddenly become painful reminders that someone is missing. When I walked to the bus stop for the first time without Wilson I knew Laurel and Owen would know why he was not there. Owen saw me and tried to remain optimistic. He hopefully asked, "Wilson didn't feel up to leaving the house?" My eyes filled with tears. I told them he was in doggy heaven. The four of us walked home very quietly. News quickly spread through the neighborhood. Moms stopped to say they were sorry. Friends sent text messages. Everyone was sad.
But there are a few things I am grateful for. First of all I feel lucky that I had such a wonderful dog for 14 happy years. Second, as sad as it is to see Laurel and Owen experiencing this real loss, I am happy their first close experience with death was with a pet rather than a human. It is so hard to realize how permanent death is and how hard it is to wish you appreciated someone more when they were around. But at least now they know that reality and the importance of trying to make every day a great day because you just never know.
Thank you Wilson- We were so lucky to have you. As Justin would always say- Wilson loves love. He was always ready to give it and take it. Let us all be a little more like Wilson!:)

Final Exams

Although my dad was terminally ill, his death still came as a surprise. Shortly after he died, my mom found a file on the computer titled, “My Final Exam”. It was a combination Memoir/ Reflection on his life as a Christian. Unfortunately, between my father’s infamous long-windedness and his failing lungs, he had only gotten to his college days by the time he was admitted to the hospital for the last time. But still, his analogy of the final exam got me thinking of how life does constantly test us on our faith and Christian love with everything from quizzes, to exams to surprise tests. Some events are quite predictable and uneventful- not much different from the weekly spelling quiz. For example, striving for weekly attendance at church, joining a prayer club or sharing money with those less fortunate. These are all structured events that we can plan for and carry out. Some events in our life are of greater importance and feel more like a test than a quiz. For example, I am in an interfaith marriage. While it may not be ideal, I do feel that answering questions and having discussions with someone who was not raised as I was has eventually strengthened my faith and relationship with God since I have had to understand these beliefs well enough to explain them to an “outsider” and not to just mindlessly “do what I have always done”. As life becomes more complicated, I sometimes feel like it is more of the crunch of mid-term exams than a single test. I am constantly trying to balance all of the pieces of my life including friends and family, career and church. In order not to “fail” in one area, I need to keep balance within and between all areas. The most challenging of all is the pop-test. During these times my relationship and understanding of God is most tested since it is done without planning and preparation. So far the biggest pop test for me was when my sister was in a car accident one week after I graduated college. She was spending her junior year in Russia as an exchange student. Up until this time I had felt most prayers had been answered. I had a wonderful childhood and my high school years and college years remain some of my most rewarding and life-filled. All I prayed for was that she would could be flown home and come out of her coma. But during this important pop test I learned that really the only request I should make in a prayer is to be able to handle the outcome. I cannot change the “master plan” but I can use all these experiences to become a better person. Whether or not I pass my final exam remains to be seen, but at least I am learning with each “test” to better love God and this Christian life he has blessed me with.

Nice Ditch!

Last month Owen and I were watching Supernanny together. At one point there was a close-up of supernanny and Owen asked, "Mom, why do some girls have that ditch under their neck?" The way he asked this question you could tell he saw this as an undesirable feature. I laughed as I told him it is called cleavage. I am guessing it won't be long before my cute, innocent boy sees this as more than a ditch.

Double Digits

I love it when things turn out 100 times better than you plan. That is what happened this weekend. Two weeks ago Laurel told me she really wanted a slumber party for her tenth birthday. It happened to fall over spring break so when we made a list of invites I told her she could invite seven girls because it was too hard to choose and I also figured half of them would be away for spring break. Laurel was thrilled when every single girl could come. I was a nervous wreck. I really value my sleep and I always worry about safety and happiness... Would everyone be nice, would everyone get along, would they think our house was boring? Where will eight girls fit to sleep? Will they even sleep? The morning started stressful- cleanups, dust, vacuum, putting clothes away, etc. Laurel did not feel she was getting the princess status she felt she deserved as a birthday queen. I was frustrated and explained that if she wanted to host a party, she needed to help get ready for it. We left for lacrosse practice a little annoyed at each other. At 5:25 guests started to arrive. By 5:35 everyone had come. Laurel was beaming. She took down some wooden train sets and set up her own little craft activity on the porch. These ten year old girls were surprisingly interested in these wooden trains that I had gotten on clearance a year ago for ten cents each. Then everyone made their own pizzas- each as unique as the girls themselves. While the pizzas cooked, the girls organized their own kickball game in the corner of our yard. After pizza we opened gifts. Then everyone enjoyed a wii game called Just Dance. Next Laurel asked her friends which board game they wanted and they all agreed on charades. Then we sang happy birthday with a brownie cake and make your own sundaes. After that we set up the living with mattresses so that eight girls would sleep comfortably. Wilson, our 14 year old lab, thought we had this new set- up for him and he couldn’t wait to settle down on this comfy sleeping area. By 11:30 the movie, Game Plan, was over and the popcorn was eaten and everyone was sleeping. By 7:30 everyone was done sleeping and ready for more fun. I drove to Mountain Lakes Bagels to buy breakfast. I came home and cooked up another of Laurel's favorite breakfast food, bacon. Once breakfast was done, the girls continued the kickball game from last night. After that they sat around the fire pit (no fire) chatting and waiting for their parents to arrive. By the time everyone got picked up, I couldn't help to be warmed by the best gift of all- friendship. It is such an important social skill to pick the right friends. So far I am really proud of Laurel and the nice friends that she chooses. I really could not have asked for a nicer group of children to stay over. They were well-mannered and appreciative and kind to each other. Everyone enjoyed whatever activity they were doing and there were no cliques. The eagerness for these eight girls to enjoy a simple game of kickball or a fun round of charades is such a reminder that it is the simple things in life that we need to make more time for. I never thought I would say this, but thank you Laurel for choosing to celebrate your birthday with a sleepover because my heart is warm just thinking of all the good times I saw you and your friends having. But don’t make this a habit because I am still a little tired :).

Where Do Babies Come From?

My mom was telling me that her friend who has been trying to get pregnant for years was finally having twins. Laurel said, "How do you TRY to get pregnant?" I can't even remember what my mom said but then Laurel said,"I thought you just ate baby food when you want to have a baby start growing in you."
It makes perfect sense....

Last Day of School (For L&O anyway)

I know it has been way to long since I did an update. So much wonderful has happened and I should have been blogging. In a nutshell: Birthday parties really stress me out so I convinced Laurel and Owen to have a family fun day instead. For Laurel we went to NYC, including the ToysRUs store in Times Square, M&M Store, Jekyll and Hyde and American Girl. For Owen we went to Hershey Park. Owen went on his first real roller coaster ride- the Comet with Grammy, Daddy, Mommy and Laurel.
I have to tell a funny Google search Laurel did last week. I sat down to use the computer and Laurel had just been there. This was her Google search: REALLY IMPORTANT THINGS I SHOULD KNOW FOR 3RD GRADE. It cracks me up that Laurel thought to sit down and use Google to find out how to prepare for third grade!
Now for a more serious entry: Owen has been very interested in taking care of planet earth. He has been reading and hearing a lot about global warming and the polar bears and the melting of glaciers. He often comes in at night and asks little questions here and there. Last night he said, “Mom- Are there enough helmets for all of us if we have to leave earth to get on a spaceship?” I told him no and that would not work because we need food and water and we can’t just leave earth. Then I went to say goodnight and he was sobbing in his room. I asked him what was wrong and he said he can’t stop thinking about Earth getting ruined. I tried to console him and told him the best thing he can do is to do his part to take car of earth by walking to the bus stop, turning out his light, not wasting food, etc. He asked me to get books about taking care of the earth. So today we started trying to read more. I realized many of these terms can be very confusing to a seven year old. It started off talking about the greenhouse effect. My little problem solver says, “Mom- Why don’t we just get rid of all the greenhouses?” Then chapter 2 was titled Carbon Footprints. Owen asked if we can just tiptoe. With that, I said, let’s come back to this tomorrow.

Can you give up your kids for lent?

Last week at dinner Laurel asked, “Mom, What is something you love to do other than read?”
I answered, “I love being with you and Owen.”
Then she thought a moment and said, “Well right now there’s this thing that Catholics do. I’m Jewish but I want to try doing it anyway.”
(Note: Laurel was baptized Catholic, went to a Christian School for four years and is currently attending Methodist Sunday school regularly so I was surprised to hear she is Jewish.)
She went on, “You give up something you like but you can’t give up reading because you have to do that everyday and you can’t give up your kids.”