Good Bye Sweet Frankie

Franke and Opie
2025

Yesterday my Son lost his wonderful dog, Frankie.

Julio and Frankie had play dates at first and in a short period of time Frankie moved in with Julio and his fiancé   Nicole.

Frankie was there when both of my Granddaughters were born and in my eldest  Granddaughter’s world Frankie has always been there.

Frankie  got to spend a lot of time with my youngest granddaughter Luna who was born in September.

Frankie was there when two of my Granddaughter’s cousins were born and he was there to grow up along side Julio and Nicole’s nephews.

He was there when my son made that jump from being a single and carefree kind of guy to a grown man with a family.

Frankie was loved. He was a big part of a very big family and even as time moves on and that distance between where Frankie is now and where we are is unfathomable, there will always be a place just for him right here in all of our hearts.

Julio and Frankie 2024

Julio and Frankie
January 6th 2025

*Word of the Day: DISTANCE

No Words

After losing two of his dogs suddenly in the last few years, my cousin and Lexus  ( X-Man ) came into each other’s lives.

Lexus is John’s pride and joy even though he had all the  makings of John’s other champion show dogs, Lexus seemed to take on the role as a companion and was a couch dog.

Lex was a big dog but he really was John’s little boy.

Photo John Cox

My cousin passed away in May.

He was grooming Lexus when his heart failed.

When they found John shortly after his heart attack, Lexus was laying next to him- of course Lexus knew John had passed on but he stayed with him all the same.  I’m sure Lexus heart was broken, I’m sure he knew when it was that my cousin had truly left. I felt sorry that Lexus would never be able to tell his story.

But as I thought about John and Lexus I remembered that I’ve sat with friends and family who had passed on or were in the process of leaving us and the thoughts I’ve had I’ve never really shared with anyone because words can’t capture that moment and maybe they’re not meant to.

I suppose then, that Lexus doesn’t need to say a word.

I know how he feels.

John and Lexus

RDP SUNDAY MEDITATE

I Was There

RDP Tuesday: Pets
I’ve run across several articles where Veterinarians are asking people to please be there with your pet if you have made the heartbreaking decision to, ” let them go”.
Animals know when their time has come- frankly I think that they can see what we can’t, so I believe that 100%- but in the articles it said that these pets are looking for their families before they leave.
I was there for my Cerberus- she fell  seriously ill and it was very unexpected. So I made the choice to let her go.

Cerbie

I told her she was going to sleep and that when she woke up she would be with her brother Wolfgang . I promised her that she was going to be able to run and play and that I would come find her and her brother.

Then I told her I loved her.

Wolfgang
Photo A.M. Moscoso

The last words Cerbie heard on this Earth was her Mommy telling her she loved her.

My voice. She took that with her into the next world.

I know if you are ever faced with this choice and you’re not sure you can do this- you can. Just remember your pet, that piece of your heart, the last thing they heard on this Earth was you saying you loved them.

You won’t regret that moment. Ever.

With my Cerbie – We didn’t say good-bye. I told her I love her. Those were the last words she heard- September 17, 2012 Lynnwood, WA

A Holiday Ritual Returns

RDP Tuesday: BREAKING NEWS

A scene from the lost 1923 silent film BLUEBEARD’S EIGHTH WIFE.

We all have our little rituals.

Some of us buy fancy expensive underwear and chocolates  to hand out for Valentines Day.  Some of us eat Waffles on Sunday.  Some of us get tattoos every time we pop out another child.

My ritual is a special one and I look forward to performing  it every Halloween.

On Halloween I kill you,  sometimes I do it  more then once because, darn it-it feels good.

I guess this is the part where I mention that you turn up in various stages of decay in the stories I write- sometimes you are already dead and the part you get is that of a rotting corpse. Other times you get done in by a Devil or a psychopath.

Once I baked you in a pie.

It was yummy, I mean the story was yummy. It was funny too. And well written, if that counts for anything.

For the curious, you worked your way into this special ritual because when I told you my nephew had died from a terminal illness- that you knew about his illness because I told you about it when we learned seven years before that at the age of 14 he would probably be dead by the time he was in his early 20’s,

you sent me this message

That was all you said about my nephew’s death. That’s how you expressed your condolences for the death of a young man you watched grown up.

I wouldn’t have wished his death on anyone, not even you. But to be honest sometimes I do.  Yeah.  Honestly. Sometimes I do.

So let me take away the  mystery, let me erase any doubts, let me make myself perfectly clear. In  August when I start setting up my blog for Halloween and the body count racks up around here, I just want you to know, so that there is no question about it  that in that pile of ink stained corpses is you.

For the record, I toss in a few more people into that pile  for different reasons that don’t matter right now.

But you my dear and special friend,  I kill you every Halloween, sometimes more then once during Halloween but I never do it thoughtlessly or carelessly because unlike you my Soul might be dark but it is not empty.

And I put a lot of thought into what write and send out into the world.