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Across the Fence:  Please Share Your Story!  |
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notathreatinsight
True Blue Farmgirl
626 Posts
Erin
Monroeville
IN
USA
626 Posts |
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Cindy Lou
True Blue Farmgirl
2325 Posts
Susan
Lonsdale
MN
USA
2325 Posts |
 Posted - May 15 2015 : 5:43:54 PM
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| I double posted due to interruptions but didn't know how to just delete. |
Edited by - Cindy Lou on May 15 2015 6:54:00 PM |
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Cindy Lou
True Blue Farmgirl
2325 Posts
Susan
Lonsdale
MN
USA
2325 Posts |
Posted - May 15 2015 : 5:54:12 PM
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I'm hoping for more "how we met" stories! But for now here is a different track of unforgettable moments. This memory has been with me for 27 years and Mothers' Day brought it back to the front of the line. DH and I had gone out for lunch with 2 of are children and both have gotten engaged in this past year, so the group has grown by two wonderful people. As we sat there, visiting and laughing this memory surfaced.
It was a busy Saturday morning, no different than most days with 3 kids, aged 2 1/2 to 7. But this morning all 3 were playing in the sand box and I was getting a lot done, knowing they were watching out for each other. I heard voices coming in and heading to the TV and kept on with the laundry and cooking stuff. About a half hour later I walked into the living room and found the two girls,but not their little brother! "He didn't want to come in."I was told. Not worried yet, I just said,"You are showed to watch your little brother, or at least let me know if he isn't with you.He's too little to be outside alone." I went out to find he was not at the sandbox or anywhere else in sight.I called but there was no answer. I ran around the house and the garage, still no sign of him!I called the girls to help me look, by now I was feeling panic! There wasn't the fear, so common now of a child abduction, but we lived in the middle of about 80 acres of woods and swampland. I called the neighbors, my DH
Who was at work about 15 miles away as well as the county sheriff.
"It's the day before Mothers' Day! How could I have let my baby get lost?" Suddenly I felt a surprising calmness, a liile kid wouldn't crash through the brush to the swamp! Then I noticed that his little walking bike was missing, with the woods and brush he could only has gone down the driveway!
As I got to the end of the driveway, DH and the sheriff's cars were coming around the curve in the road, just about there,and DH had seen him first! He had crossed the gravel road and biked into the grassy field across the road!He was found!
Susan
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
Mary Oliver |
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Song Sparrow
True Blue Farmgirl
1010 Posts
Amy
Talleyville
Delaware
USA
1010 Posts |
Posted - May 16 2015 : 04:12:42 AM
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Wow, Susan I was on pins and needles reading your story! I think many moms have had the experience of a child missing for a little bit, and that horrible feeling. I know it happened to me once, the first time I visited my brother in New York City! I may have to come back and tell that one sometime, but for now let's just say I know exactly how you felt!
Peace in our hearts, peace in the world
Amy (Sister#6098) www.danaherandcloud.com
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Cindy Lou
True Blue Farmgirl
2325 Posts
Susan
Lonsdale
MN
USA
2325 Posts |
Posted - Jun 01 2015 : 2:45:19 PM
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I know this is a long one but I've had fun writing it and want to share.
Susan
Bonnie
Cindy
We have a twice divorced friend who divides his life and his stories with a phrase about the car he was driving at the time. “When I was driving the yellow Mustang...” or “When I had the Road Runner...” or “When I was driving the Trans-Am...”
Our married life has been more defined by the dog or dogs we had at the time. Over our 44 years there have been a good many of them, sometimes one, sometimes 2 or more. Each sharing their lives and love. We built our house, raised our kids and retired here and they are tied in our memories. Most were rescue dogs, cast offs, or give-aways of mixed parentage.
Jake was our first Australian Shepherd. He and his sister had been purchased by a farmer to become herd dogs. When they were too much play partners, the farmer passed him on so his sister would do her job. He was an amazing dog, a giant among Aussies, a beautiful blue Merle, close to 80 pounds, with a dignity that fit his size and an intense loyalty. That is when we became hooked.
He was followed by Boxcar Willie, or maybe Crazy Willie would be a better title, who chewed up anything is sight, loved everybody, sat with me in the garden begging for ripe raspberries as I picked and “borrowing” from the neighbors, showing up with the occasional shoe, glove, or toy. One of my favorite Willie stories is the time he brought home their dogs' water bucket, with water still frozen in it. Tired of returning things I said in desperation, “You take that back.”, and he did!
When we lost Willie, within a couple of days my DH was online searching for another Aussie. He tried Humane Society sites, rescue groups and breeders, and finally found one listing that hooked him. Both Jake and Willie were from working stock and here was a possibility. He called, in spite of the fact that they were in Rapid City, SD, 560 miles away! Yes, it sounded good and the pups were now ready to leave their mom. We were on the road the next day!
We took a leash and a small pet carrier and headed out on the quest. One day over and one day back. When we arrived it was already evening. The lady and her kids took us out, by flashlight, to the barn to meet the mother and pups. When we arrived all the pups but two had been spoken for. One looked just like the mother, a red Merle, with a white blaze on her face and four white feet. DH loved her at first sight. The other one who hadn't yet been claimed was called “Big Bertha” by one of the kids. She was by far the biggest pup in the litter, also a red Merle but with no white markings. I picked up the big pup and, wonder of wonders, she pressed herself against me. I have hugged a good many dogs over the years but never had one who hugged me first! I felt like she chose me! We had trouble deciding, and since we would be staying overnight at a motel the lady suggested we come back in the morning to get more acquainted with them before making a decision.
At the motel we discussed the situation. The one DH wanted would most likely be small like her mother, and since we had recently had numerous coyotes in the area , we worried about her being outside alone at night. The larger one might be safer. We usually talk things out without argument but we couldn't make a decision and waited till the next day.
By the next morning we both had decided that we would let the other decide, really no closer to a decision! When we returned to the farm and watched the puppies playing outside we were kind of waiting for each other to decide. Luckily the lady was enjoying our visit and in no hurry. Suddenly DH got a big smile!
“I’ve decided!”, he said. “We’ll take both of them!”
We started the long journey home, DH driving and me sitting in the back seat with the pups alternating riding in the little pet carrier and on my lap. We had probably gone a couple of miles when I said, “ Stop, I think this one is going to throw up!” Luckily we made it in time.
And so the journey continued, with a lot of paper towels for clean up and many stops to give them a chance to get out, one at a time, since we only had one leash. We did a lot of name discussion, neither of us thought Big Bertha would be a very flattering name . The sunny skies changed to a downpour of rain, all the more difficult for the many puppy stops.
By the time we got home they both had names. The smaller was Cindy Lou Who, of Dr. Suess fame, because she was smaller and a little cutie. The larger one became Bonnie Badenuff, anyone out there remember Boris Badenuff of the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon?
They are now 5 years old and we don’t regret the trip, at least not very often! Cindy is now 40 pounds and Bonnie, the big girl has grown to 60.
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
Mary Oliver |
Edited by - Cindy Lou on Jun 01 2015 2:56:04 PM |
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BeautifulBibliophile
Farmgirl in Training
31 Posts
Rachel
Valley
Alabama
USA
31 Posts |
Posted - Jun 01 2015 : 3:18:59 PM
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Ok - for a "how we met" story...
I was widowed when I was 23 years old. My 21 year old husband found out he had a brain tumor right after finishing basic training in the Air Force. He lived 364 days after the surgery to remove the tumor, which was wrapped around his brain stem like an octopus. I will hate cancer until I die.
The next year, I remarried. It was way too soon, but I was young and lonely. I married a man I'd known since I was five years old, the eldest brother of my childhood best friend. Knowing someone for 20 plus years doesn't really mean you KNOW them, though, and it turns out he was schizo-affective, and he and his family hid this from me - lied to me about it, actually. They didn't want to be responsible for him anymore. He spent all my money, and abused me physically and emotionally for a year and a half before I finally had the courage to get out of the marriage. The only good thing to come out of it was Otis, my first Boston Terrier, who will be 13 next Friday.
I didn't date again for years, and when I finally put myself back out there, it was through match.com. I live in a very small town, and I thought this was the best way of meeting guys I didn't go to school with! However, I'd meet men, go out with them once or twice, and then never hear from them again. It was disheartening. Then one day a guy walked into my work ( I'm a librarian) and he wouldn't leave me alone. I finally agreed to go out with him.
He was 12 years older than me, and I'd just turned 30, so it was sooooo flattering to have this KID into me. He was so childlike, and I found it refreshing, charming even. Six months after we met we married on a cruise ship.
Then the honeymoon was over. I was raising my husband.
He couldn't keep a job, or manage money. We stayed broke and overdrawn. His family hated me and thought that he was too good for me. I kept at it, because I didn't want to get divorced again. I was miserable, listening to him chatter about absolutely nothing all the time, but I had made my bed, and had to lie in it.
Then one day I went to visit my great-aunt, and while I was gone his family came and moved him out of our house. It was like he had never existed in my life. They even went through our medicine cabinets and clothes hampers to get his things out. I never felt to violated in my life. The first time our families actually met was when his WHOLE FAMILY came to my parents house to tell me that he was divorcing me. This was on a Saturday evening. We signed the papers on Wednesday.
Then, a little over a year later, I decided to give online dating ONE more try. Not having the money for match.com this time, I went online to plenty of fish, and found a guy who lived near my work. Something about his eyes told me he was okay. I could see honesty in them. I had put up this silly profile for myself saying I was "Looking for my Jack White." Monty's one line response to me was, "Well here I am."
We met in person, and he took me to the museum to an impressionist painting exhibit. Then we went out the next night. And the next. That Sunday I brought him to my house for the first time. Otis, my dog, was a little skittish of any men who weren't his Grampy by this time, but he took to Monty immediately. I had never seen anything like it. I actually have pictures of their first meeting, with Otis sitting on Monty's chest and smiling his Boston Terrier smile. Otis had picked out his new Daddy.
Almost five years later, Monty and I are still together. We live together, and I love his three boys like they were my own. We've added to our menagerie and now have a female boston and a cat in addition to Otis. Monty has seen me through graduate school, the loss of several family members, and serious stress at my work. Whenever I've needed him, there he is, just like he told me he would be.
"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing." - Harper Lee |
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Cindy Lou
True Blue Farmgirl
2325 Posts
Susan
Lonsdale
MN
USA
2325 Posts |
Posted - Jun 02 2015 : 10:10:28 AM
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Rachel,
Thank you for sharing your story. I love happy endings and your story is in the middle of one!
Susan
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
Mary Oliver |
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Across the Fence: Please Share Your Story! |
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Please Share Your Story!
