Love in the time of COVID

When I was in my early twenties I met the one person who would become the focus of my life, my daughter. Even before she was born, I loved her more than I ever believed was possible. Last week, on Halloween, she got married. It was a beautiful, but cold day. And thanks to the global pandemic, the wedding had to be kept small. We were able to livestream the wedding for our family and friends who were unable to attend due to these travel restrictions. 

 But there are no restrictions on how many dogs can gather together, and since my daughter and I are dedicated dog lovers, the guests were invited to bring their dogs to the wedding. They were also encouraged to wear Halloween costumes, which just made the day more fun. 

 My daughter’s collie, Sorsha, was the ring bearer. She was a very good girl, and did a great job. 

 As exciting as the wedding was, we are all eagerly anticipating what comes next. In May of 2022, my daughter is going to make me a Grandmother! Sorsha got to make the announcement on social media. 

 While we are all living through this difficult year, isolated and worried about our families and friends, it’s wonderful to have something positive to focus on…

The Return...

It’s been so long since I logged in and wrote a post. Grief can steal all your motivation. I lost my best friend, Abby, and I missed her companionship. She was more than a dog to me. Then we bred Scarlett, Abby’s daughter, to a gorgeous, blue merle collie. He was a National winner, and one of the top rough collies in the country. This was our dream litter, and two days before her due date we lost all seven puppies. We tried desperately to save them, but lost them all. It’s one of the hardest parts about being a dog breeder, and the loss made my daughter and I take an extended break from dog shows, dog breeding and for me, from blogging about my dogs. We had Scarlett spayed, as she had been bred multiple times over the last few years without success, so we decided to give up on or dream of a Scarlett puppy. And even now, almost two years later, I just do not want to talk about that loss. 

 It took over a year before we decided to try again. This time we bred Maizie, and we once again chose one of the top stud dogs, this time a sable, smooth male. And this time we were met with success, she had five healthy puppies, and an easy delivery. She was a wonderful Mom, and we couldn’t be happier with the puppies, who are now five months old. I will write more about them in the collie’s blog, as this blog is just for me. A place to share my thoughts and feelings, my memories and life. 

 When we write, even when it’s just a personal blog, we strive to share, or to entertain our readers. And sometimes we write as an outlet for self-reflection. Writing helps us organize our thoughts and gives us a chance to reinvent ourselves. Or at least we can reinvent the person we present to others, as I’m not sure we can ever truly change our inner self. Thinking about who I want to be in my online persona, the answer is I want to be honest, I want to be honest with myself and whoever may care to read my posts. I also want to be open, and write as if I am speaking to a close friend. 

I thought about blogs I have read, and which ones I particularly enjoyed and why. And the person I want to emulate is an old friend from my Livejournal days. Livejournal was a place to blog, back when blogging was relatively new. And Jackie was one of my first blogging friends, whose writing style was always soothing and calming to me. Reading her posts gave you a feeling similar to being wrapped in warm flannel, while sitting by a cozy fire, on a cold Winter’s night. Her posts were always about simple things, a glimpse into her daily life, and they always made me smile. Her blog was a place you always wanted to linger, like a childhood visit to Grandma’s house. She passed away in 2011, so there haven’t been new posts in a very long time, but people still return to her blog to reread her old entries. I want my writing to touch people in the same way. Jackie was a talented writer, so it will definitely be a challenge and a learning experience for me. 

In these troubled times, with the COVID pandemic forcing people to stay apart, with riots and looting making people afraid, I definitely felt the need to start writing again, to connect with others. Of course, she’s not me, and I’m not her, so my writing will be different than Jackie’s. But I can attempt to write in a manner that brings comfort, draws the reader in and hopefully will make someone smile every now and then...