Happy New Year

Missy enjoying the snow last winter (2011)

As 2012 comes to close I take a few moments this morning to reflect back ... it has been a year full of joy and also a year filled with some challenging news regarding Ahnung. But I am grateful for everything I have and for the wonderful people I have in my life, and for my precious four furkids: Ahnung, Legacy, Mister and Missy.

I am beyond grateful to still have my precious Ahnung with me. She is my best friend, my soul mate, my kindred spirit. As we walk this Final Walk, having accepted the end is approaching, we appreciate every day and every moment with so much more zest. I suspect that this will be my last New Year's eve with Ahnung. On January 3, 2013 we will celebrate 5 years from the day I officially adopted her from Pet Haven .... I knew she was special the day I laid eyes o her, but little did I know just how special she truly was ..... To read more about how it all began, you can check out Ahnung's blog:

http://ahnung-northstar.blogspot.com/2009/03/ahnung-shine-on.html

But today, on New Year's eve, I wish for you all that makes your heart sing. I wish for you peace, happiness and joy. I wish for you friends and family who love you for who you are, and can sit with you and walk silently alongside of you, through your darkest moments, and to celebrate life with you. I wish for you an open heart, an open mind and many moments to notice the sacred in what we might otherwise call ordinary. I wish for you love and connection. And I wish for you your own special Ahnung, your own North Star, who will guide you, protect you, and walk with you.

 

“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.”.

― Henri J.M. Nouwen