RETRO WEEK: Round Up the Livestock

As noted, I’m at the beach this week. So, I’m sharing a collection of my favorite posts from over the years. Today, we remember the animals.

Still at home…

NIC
Happy National Mutt Day, Nic
December 5, 2015
We don’t know what happened in Nic’s former life to make him so skittish or to cause him such separation anxiety and stress. We just know he’s a happy boy when he’s home and sleeping on the couch.

NOLA
November 7, 2016
She’s a bundle of energy and love and still hasn’t quite learned to not jump. Whatever her native language is, “No” is apparently not part of the vocabulary.

MO
His given name is Mordecai. And I don’t think he’s ever had his own post. Except for this:
Seriously? Like this cat needs anymore computer time
January 5, 2013
In the latest version of “wait, I don’t waste enough time on the Internet,” you can now set up a social network for your cat.

To be honest though, he does have an Instagram account.

Across the Rainbow Bridge…

JILL
SHORT STORY FRIDAY: The Best Dog
April 30, 2021
She lived outside. She barked at the trash men. She barked at the mail man.

ABBY (Abigail Maria)
July 26, 2008
I hate this post
I had to go all the way back to the WordPress site to find the post about Abby.

SAM (Samuel Adams)
Bestest Puppy Ever
November 28, 2012
Sam was a big dog, and big dogs don’t get many years. Fourteen was old for a lab. But for us, it seems like we didn’t have him with us long enough.

TED
Teddy, We hardly knew ye
June 19, 2013
Ted was able to walk with us to the Jeep. And in one final romp managed to eat a mouse before we got him in the vehicle.

BENNY
Benny the cat was part of our family in the days before blogs, in the days when the Internet still went “squeeeee.” Benny probably deserves his own short story. Noted.

THINGS YOU SHOULD READ will return next week.

BORN ON THIS DAY

1856 – Booker T. Washington, African-American educator, essayist and historian (d. 1915)
1900 – Spencer Tracy, American actor (d. 1967)
1908 – Bette Davis, American actress (d. 1989)
1916 – Gregory Peck, American actor, political activist, and producer (d. 2003)
1920 – Arthur Hailey, English-Canadian soldier and author (d. 2004)
1933 – Frank Gorshin, American actor (d. 2005)
1937 – Colin Powell, American general and politician, 65th United States Secretary of State (d. 2021)

BENEDICTION

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 15:5-6

RETRO WEEK: We Are Family

Ah, fresh Monday, fresh(ish) month. Enjoy them if you will, I’m at the beach. And I’m pretty happy about it. We opted to switch our normal summer beach week to spring break. Of course if 2022 continues as it has for the first three months, we may be looking at doing this every quarter.

My first spring break to the beach, we only got to see the water from the side of the bus. But we did get to Disney World, boys and girls. No buses or Disney for this trip.

And no fresh posts. Instead, each day this week we’ll take a walk down memory lane to some of my favorite posts from the past. Today we’re focusing on the family. Stick around, it’s going to be a good week.

Here are some of the favorites:

Family relationships…

From this day forward, from this day forward…
November 11, 2014
Written for our 28th Anniversary
There’s no one else I’d rather be miserable with.

On this Day in 1989: An Interruption
April 26, 2013
Life would never be the same.

13 Years? Where did the time go?
February 11, 2013
But the best I can come up with is “where did the time go?”

Family loss…

The Last Time I Saw Him
June 15, 2014
It’s hard to write these Father’s Day posts and make them about the wonderful memories. There are wonderful memories. Just not enough of them.

That Awful March of 1983
March 13, 2013
Thirty years ago, my extended family make-up and experience was changed forever.

Go rest high on that mountain
October 31, 2016
This was the second time in my life that I have traveled home to be with my Mother as she buried a husband.

And a friend…

When a Friend Sails Into the West
April 15, 2020
Matt never lost his faith, or his sense of humor. But in the last few weeks, we heard less from Matt and instead got updates from the love of his life.

THINGS YOU SHOULD READ will return next week.

BORN ON THIS DAY

1895 – Arthur Murray, American dancer and educator (d. 1991)
1928 – Maya Angelou, American memoirist and poet (d. 2014)
1932 – Anthony Perkins, American actor (d. 1992)
1942 – Kitty Kelley, American journalist and biographer
1944 – Craig T. Nelson, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1960 – Hugo Weaving, Nigerian-Australian actor and producer
1965 – Robert Downey Jr., American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1966 – Nancy McKeon, American actress

BENEDICTION

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 15:5-6