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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Uplifting words from Carolyn
| Recently I posted on here about the recipient of the 2008 Meisha’s Hope Award http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/2008mhawinner.htm Last week I heard from Carolyn, the person who nominated the 2008 recipient. Her words were so uplifting to me, I wanted to share them. Remember as you read this, in the last several months, Carolyn has lost both her daughter, Joy and her dog, Maggie Mae. “A couple weeks ago we decided to throw a Chinese New Year's party, to start the year over fresh. We invited all our friends, especially the ones we knew were hurting, like us, and instructed everyone to bring a stick, and a picture of their loved one(s) if they wanted. We had a special table with place settings for a human person and a fur person, and as people came in, they put their pictures on the table. After lots of good food and drinks and conversation, we had a big bonfire out in the back yard. One at a time, we tossed our sticks in the fire, telling about the parts of the old year that we wanted to burn away. After the bonfire, everybody came back in and each person, if they wanted, got up and shared something about the loved one they lost, and passed their picture around. Several of our friends have recently lost parents or close friends, and several had very recently lost pets. My oldest granddaughter (she is 8) had picked out a picture of her mom and her, on the day she was born. And we had one of Maggie, too, of course. Dr. Rick came, and I asked him if I could brag about him. He said that was ok (even though he was a bit embarrassed), so I told everybody about the award, and they all clapped. It was a good party, and I think it helped many of us. I was worried, because when you get that many sad people in a room, it can really bring the mood down. But it turned out to be very positive and heartening. When it comes right down to it, life is just a collection of memories. And the more deeply we have loved, the more deeply the memories are etched on our hearts. We still cry a lot, but it gets better every day.” |
| Joanne MN |
| What a tragic letter. Thanks for sharing it with us, Joanne. My thoughts and prayers are with Carolyn and her family. No one every promised us life would be fair. When tragedy strikes, we somehow go on and Carolyn's Chinse New Year party was an incredible idea to help with the pain. Nancy and Lindy |
| Nancy CO |
| What an inspiring letter, I'm in awe of Carolyn's courage to move forward, and through such a healing party for everyone she cares about. It sounded like a great way to honor those we have lost, but also a great way to help everyone to heal and continue. Thanks for sharing melissa and tiggs |
| melissa slc |
| Joanne -- thanks for sharing. Carolyn must be quite a special person to have such strength to see through her pain and to try to help others with theirs. |
| Brenda VA |
| Joanne, Thank you for sharing that. What a wonderful tribute to all the loved ones that left such caring people behind. I do a similar thing with candles on the solstices. Privately though. Maybe I will invite others to share in it now. Penny |
| Penny Lytle Creek Creek |
This thread was discussed between 11/02/2009 and 12/02/2009
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