Samson is in doggie heaven and I KNOW IT IS TRUE! AMAZING STORY!!

Well, I share stories of miracles, sadness, things that make us laugh here and all of it is true. And I always have said that God is a very specific God. Today was such evidence of this- this story will truly amaze you but please know it's true, because it happened to ME.

Samson is our 17 year old greyhound and most of you that follow the blog know his story- he was given to us five years ago and we thought we would have him for a few months. The months turned into years and he is the finest dog we have ever owned- hands down. He has been my "soul dog"- the one really special dog in your life. He was a fast runner and was the fastest dog here for a long time- then we noticed him limping. So, our vet told us his knee in the rear left was just shot with arthritis, so we put him on Deramaxx for the last 2 or 3 years. Well in July of 09 he was doing very badly- his arthritic knee was hurting him alot and he didn't get off the couch at all during the day. I called Dr. Rockefeller, my vet and told her it was time. Jon dug his grave and we waited the two days for Dr. R to come. Samson did a turn around that was like a miracle- he was playing and running- and Jon said, " He saw that hole and said, " NOT YET FOLKS!!!"

The last few days Samson has been in horrible pain and his bad knee has been collapsing under him and I knew today when I looked at him that it was the day to send him to relief. So I took him in and Dr. Eslick , who is also my vet, but not the one who knows Samson said, " So we are evaluating him today?" And I was shaken- I had told them I was bringing Sam in for a PTS. (Put to sleep). I said, "NO!" "So you want him to be put to sleep today?" And I am thinking, " AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH why is she asking me this?" But it went peacefully and I cried all over his beautiful brown nose and sang him all his songs. I had alot of special "Mom and Sam" songs I sang to only Sam. I left and thought, " His body is made new and his soul is at rest." I was driving home and I saw something standing in the road and as I got closer, I saw that it was a GREYHOUND. He looked confused and walked in the middle of the road and off to the side. This was in a residential area, so he wasn't at a huge risk to be hit but I noticed he was limping and didn't have a collar on. So I stopped and called him to me and he came. I thought, " Well, he's got to be microchipped, I'll take him back to my vet and find out who his owner is." His nails were well trimmed and he was at a good weight and lots of muscle, so I knew he wasn't a stray. I tried to coerce him to get in my van and he yelped like, " NO WAY LADY!!" I then heard a motorbike behind me and a 70 year old man said, " Thank you maam." I said, " Is this your dog?" "Yes, maam, he just slipped away from me." I said, " Well he's limping, I don't know if he got hit or not- but PLEASE PUT A COLLAR ON HIM, I am headed home after putting my 17 year old greyhound to sleep." He smiled and said, " Well thank you again." The dog ran to him and off they went. And I was filled with JOY- it was like God saying, " Don't worry, it was the right day, Anne, and I have him and here's a little miracle for you. I HAVE NEVER EVER SEEN A GREYHOUND WANDERING IN OR AROUND A ROAD, EVER IN MY LIFE. It's just not something you see. So Samson, thanks for sending me that reassuring message that you were protected and taken home like this old man's dog was. I love you Sam Sam.

Prayers for Ralf and for the dear people of Haiti

We have sponsored a boy in Haiti named Dakens Ralf Losier- he is 11 and we've sponsored him since he was six. We do not know if he is alive or not. Compassion is an amazing organization and we had an email the day after the earthquake letting us know that they would be searching for each of the 2.500 children they serve in Haiti and would let us know of his fate ASAP. I fear to put his picture up but I want him to know we love him very very much and have thought of little else in these last days. I cannot watch TV or videos on the computer- I sob. We chose a boy in Haiti when we lost our last African boy child to tribal warring years ago. This child is known as Ralf to those that know him. We got a letter from him 5 days before the earthquake hit, full of news and good cheer and wishes for a Merry Christmas. (There is a delay of letters getting from us to him and vice versa due to the translation needed.) I had written him immediately back and I pray that he got it before the earthquake. It's a huge world and a small world, so if anyone happens to hear of anyone with his name please email me. WE LOVE YOU RALF. WE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN YOU OR YOUR PARENTS OR YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS.

Melange a la Maison de Trinkle (aka the zoo)

I sat down to write today and thought, " There's so much to write about and there's no ONE thing to write about over the next thing." So, the word melange came to mind- it is French for "mixture". I think about it as a mixture of a variety of things- a bowl of multi- colored fruit or a group of people with 20 different shades of skin. Here, it means so many things. In many ways, things are always the same here- there is always alot of work to do, I am almost always joyful to do it, and our population stays about the same. Recently we had a really wonderful happening. Our green cheek conure, Bob, who was rehomed for safety issues 2 years ago with a dear friend (we were fostering a dog who thought Bob was something to eat). So we occasionally spoke of Bob and how he was doing and how we missed him. The foster dog got adopted. One day I was on Craigslist and there was an ad for a green cheek conure- I never click on those. I did. The ad said, " Bobby is for sale and I need to find a home for him immediately." Well, I called my friend who we had placed Bob with and she told me SHE had to rehome him for her dogs were trying to kill him and she had placed him with a nice young mom who had named him Bobby. I screamed, ' KAREN, HE IS ON CRAIGSLIST!!" Long story short- Jon and the girls FREAKED OUT, we called this young mom and Jon rushed over to get our beloved bird.He is the tiny bird with the burgandy feathers on his stomach. I cannot tell you how happy we all were but Julianna in particular was in tears over the reunion. He had been in smoking home with the young mom and had developed a fear of small kids. Karen of course, being a wonderful and amazing animal lover did not know she had placed him in a smoking home- and had interviewed this chick real well. We just love Karen. Bless his heart- he's fine now- very happy to be here and not afraid of anything. He is sitting on my shoulder as I type, trying to eat either my glasses or my neck. :) Very nicely and gently. God is specific.

We lost our dear Galina, as you read in our last post. Heartbreaking. Yesterday we went to a warehouse where we buy our bird food at a great discount (Deviney Enterprises- that's for you Anne- love you!) (If you live in North Florida or South Georgia and want some of the most GORGEOUS SEED AND FRUIT for your birds- go there. You can email me at JonAnne@aol.com for their address. Their prices are amazing and they sell almost every pet food you can think of, not just bird food. and we talked these poor folks ears off. There was an orange winged amazon in the office- we asked, " Anne, is he yours?" "No, he is for sale for a friend of mine." I went on and played with Anne's dachshaunds and the next thing I know Anne says, " Holy smokes, look at that." Jon was rubbing "Buddy's " head. I said, " What?" " Anne, that bird HATES MEN!!!" I just smiled and said, " Yea, I know, my hubby is the bird whisperer." Jon went on to talk in this super sweet voice and rub and rub this bird's head. Well, he's here now, his name is Monkey (he is so funny, he likes to hand from his feet from the top of his cage and looks just like a little monkey bird). No big investment- but a new great home for this fun bird- he makes the funniest littlest noises and is SO EMOTIONALLY SOUND. This is a delight for us as most of our birds are rescues, thus have messed up heads. Monkey is the yellow cheeked parrot with the golden eye.

Sam continues to live and even his bad breath brings me joy- every day with this amazing dog is a delight. Janie still has breast cancer but is doing well and sleeps next to my stomach each night. Gracie Rose is having a false pregnancy and it is about to kill me. I have NEVER EVER EVER EVER waited too late to have a dog spayed and time got away from me and she went into heat - of course we do not have any intact animals here, so she couldn't get preggers, but I felt like the worst doggy mom in the world. :) I keep telling her, " I am so sorry, little girl." My morals about certain things are almost too much. :)

We still deal with cold weather, occasional bouts of diarrhea, dogs who won't listen and having to keep up with everyone's shots or wormings and ALWAYS TOENAILS. But pretty much this is the life I love and my family loves it too. We all get tired sometimes and don't want to do our chores, but then we hear a meow or a version of "happy birthday to you" from Pepper or Gracie shows us her favorite toy by wagging her butt all over the place and you just forget your tiredness and laugh and smile and God gives you one more burst of energy. It's heaven on earth for us.