Stay (a)Breast

Today starts National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. NBCAM

Breast cancer awareness should not be a suggestion, but rather a demand. Demand it of yourself and everyone you love. We have been fighting this battle way too long to lose even one more life simply because we are too busy to be aware! We all know early detention will greatly increase survival rates, but other than that yearly mammogram, are we really that diligent at staying aware?

Here is a fun little “Reminder Ribbon” from Wonderful-Grafitti® that you can adhere right to your shower wall or bathroom mirror. They are cute, cheap and effective.

So do your part this month; order a Reminder Ribbon for someone you love.

Let’s be aware all year long!

# 22

Nick has a football game this afternoon. It’s actually the third one of the season, but he missed the first game because of the flu, Mike and I missed his second game because of” life”, but today we’ll all be there, including Jordie.

Raising our kids, I’ve always (right or wrong) subscribed to the “Parenting by Fear” model. When the kids were younger, it was great. They feared us… at least we like to think they did. At the very least they understood cause and effect!

I grew up fearing my folks, and most of my friends feared theirs as well. I would march right up to that line drawn in the sand, literally teetering over it at times, but on rare occasion did I out and out cross it. The risk had to be worth the short-term reward for me to do so. Or maybe that’s just the convenient memory I have since my own kids are now at the teetering stage of their young lives and I want them to make the right choices.

What I failed to realize until recently however, is how the definition of “Parenting by Fear” so quickly changes.

I’m a freak about them driving, a nut-case over a bad grade, distrusting of most friends. I’m a walking infomercial invading their ears with safety tips and an encyclopedia chock full of horrific stories regarding young people’s bad choices. “Good kids make bad choices too” loops over and over in these poor kids’ psyches’!

Parenting by Fear… great model… I am now the fearful one.

I dread this afternoon. Nick is new to the game of football. These kids are big; thank God he’s among the larger ones on the field. “Teach him to hit correctly Coach” I implored at the parents meeting last month. “He’s a pleaser Coach, don’t let him get hurt trying to please you and the team”. “Tell him how you never, ever hit with your head Coach”. By the time I was done with the guy he wanted to hit me over the head.

Last week didn’t help when Nicky came barging in the door after the game all a twitter to tell me that another kid on his team was taken away in an ambulance. Apparently he took a cheap shot to the back and the coaching staff did the right thing by not taking any chances with his health. He was checked out at the local hospital and back at school the next day.

When Nick left for school today I was taken aback at how handsome and grown-up he looked in his game day jersey. I told him Daddy and I would be at his game and Sissy would meet us there too.

“I’m # 22 Mom, I’ll look for you guys and wave” was his reply. That’s him in a nutshell; carefree and happy, no outward sign of fear.

So this is me now…
Breathing deep, facing the fear and letting go.

Not just for today’s game, but for both Jordie and Nick’s young adult journey. I won’t be fearless, but I’m going to try very hard to no longer be paralyzed by that fear.

Wish me luck!

I am Verbose…

Verbose is not a word I’m unfamiliar with, but if I think about it, I doubt I’ve ever actually used it myself. Someone used it today in the comment section of a Facebook friend; I fell in love with the word, it “spoke” to me and decided right then to look up its official definition rather than rely on my own loose interpretation.

· Main Entry: ver·bose
· Pronunciation: \(ˌ)vər-ˈbōs\
· Function: adjective
· Etymology: Latin verbosus, from verbum
· Date: 1672

1 : containing more words than necessary : wordy ; also : impaired by wordiness 2 : given to wordiness
synonyms see wordy
— ver·bose·ly adverb
— ver·bose·ness noun
— ver·bos·i·ty \-ˈbä-sə-tē\ noun

Ru-roh.

Is this some sort of divine intervention? Is there a “Word-God” out there orchestrating said intervention regarding my verboseness? Will family and friends be awaiting my arrival soon at a dingy motel room with a list of demands I must agree to or risk losing them forever? Do I talk too much, do I ever shut-up, AM I VERBOSE???

Well the good news I suppose (for you), is I’m only a delete button away. For me the dilemma is much deeper. The words that actually hit the keyboard are a mere fraction of the words whirling around in my ever-churnin noggin.

In fact, the verboseness in my brain is verbosely a verbosity.

I’ll be quiet now!

It is with great trepidation…

I introduce to you… Renni.

Trepidation only because the wounds of losing Tucker are still raw; I miss him every day. Mike admitted to “stepping over” him still at night, and I swear I hear his tail thump once or twice a day in this big empty house. But in reality, it’s in my empty heart.

We are dog people, plain and simple. We usually have two of them. We were in fact playing with the idea of finally filling Ziggy’s void when Tucker so quickly turned downhill. Renni is not a replacement; I just told her a moment ago in fact that she needs to “Tucker up” i.e. “earn her stripes”.

I have no doubt she will. Already having overcome the odds of landing in a shelter, Renni was most likely dumped in the country when her family could either no longer afford her or perhaps she had outgrown that “cute as can be” puppy stage which abruptly ends around 4 months. Then they enter the lanky tween-age years and their cuteness no longer over compensates for their naughtiness.

Enter Wren.

Wren is the great lady who found the scared pup on her front porch one morning a couple of weeks ago. Trembling but in otherwise good shape, Wren did all she could to find the owners, posting flyers, calling neighbors and contacting the local vet (She did not know about KC PetConnect but does now!). She and her equally awesome husband Jim have 6 small dogs of their own and this little sweetie could not have chosen a better home to try and invade. They would have kept her too if they could; it seems the little guys were not fond of this stranger who did not look a thing like their pack. Renni tried and tried to befriend them Wren told us, but all she got for it was a cut under her eye “through” a fence! If that’s not a “go back to where you came from” statement, I don’t know what is!

So what is a long story can be summed up in one word… fate. The kids and I took off on a 3 hour jaunt last night to “see if she’s the one”. Jim and Wren live on a parcel of land just shy of 5 acres and we parked at the very end of a long gravel drive. I had warned the kids on the way up that the dog is timid so not to expect her to come running to us begging for a good home; she thinks she’s already got one!

But lo and behold, that’s exactly what happened. She came trotting toward us, fluffy ears flopping in the breeze. The three of us dropped to our knees and she bowled us over with lovin and tail-waggin. I knew right then… game over.

Wren and Jim could not have been nicer people, the kids want to adopt them as yet another set of grandparents. When I asked Wren how she felt about us naming the dog she saved after her… tears welled up in her eyes and I knew this dog would forever be known as “Renni”, after the woman who “really” rescued her.

We met the rest of their crew, swapped some stories and a few more tears. They lost a dog this past Fourth of July when a careless driver hit him on the country road outside their home. Renni must have sought out their hearts to heal but when it was clear Jim and Wren have plenty of canine love to go around, “fate” brought her to us.

Just like Tucker at first was no Ziggy, who was no Nubi, who was no Louie… the cycle of life continues. And one day soon, Renni will be Top Dog.