Friday, May 15, 2009

Life goes on






Today is my 39th birthday.  I feel like one major phase of my life has just come to an end and another has started.  You see, our dog Charlie died yesterday.  Aaron and I got married in August of 1994.  He bought me Charlie as a birthday gift in March of 1996.  My birthday wasn't until May, but Charlie was ready in March.  He was a gorgeous red merle Australian Shepherd.  He is now buried next to our garden.  We have a large rock on his grave and Naomi Ruth plans to use a nail to carve his name into it.  I am going to plant a rose bush on either side of it and then put a garden bench in front of it, facing the garden.  Charlie was with us through all 10 children becoming part of our family.  He loved them all, although he was not able to interact much with Benjamin, our 7 month old.  I can remember him shepherding the other children when they would try crawling out of the room.  He would nudge them back towards me.  :-)  Charlie was also with us through 6 moves.  We bought him while living in Texas and moved twice still in the Dallas area.  Then we moved up to the Boston area of MA and I think he really enjoyed the cooler air.  Next, we moved here to Ohio and we are now in our 3rd home here.  Lord willing, this is the one we're going to stay put in.  So, I feel like Charlie was there for all of the big moments in our early married life.  Spunkles, our puppy, is 10 weeks old.  What all will occur during her life?  I imagine that she will see children growing up, getting married, and leaving home.  It's kind of hard to imagine that phase of my life and yet as I sit here on my birthday reflecting back and looking forward, I am pondering all of this.  For now, though, I am very much in the midst of the stage of raising these children up for the Lord.



Over Easter weekend, Hannah came down with a really bad case of strep throat and tonsilitis.  She saw an ENT on Tuesday and is going to need a tonsilectomy.  Her tonsils are still so big that they are actually overlaping past the uvula.  If this is the baseline, then if she gets an infection, her airway will be blocked.  I'll get that scheduled today.    Oh speaking of surgeries, Naomi Ruth is going to need to have four of her adult teeth pulled.  Her mouth just doesn't have room for them.  Aaron and I both had that surgery.  As you can imagine, she's scared.  We do not have that scheduled yet.  First we'll need to schedule the consultation with the oral surgeon.



Yesterday I took Susanna to her ENT appointment at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.  The appointment went great.  She is healing up really well from her tonsilectomy/adnoid removal.  He also felt really good about how her eating, breathing, and talking have improved.  She doesn't need to go back until October or November.  That will probably be when she has her next MRI of the tumors and then sees all of her doctors.  Please keep her in your prayers.  There was something that I thought was really funny yesterday.  I had Susanna, Benjamin, Hannah, and Naomi Ruth with me.  Over and over, people commented how I really had my hands full with four young children.  I just smiled.  Inside I was thinking, "You have NO idea!"  Four was a cinch compared to my usual 10.  :-D

Love, Dawn
www.caringbridge.org/visit/susannahall

8 comments:

Ray & Carla Ives said...

Happy Birthday, Dawn! May you have a day filled with love, laughter, fun, family and all of God's Brightest Blessings!

I am sorry for the loss of your friend yesterday. We are animal lovers, too. We raise them, we treasure them and we cry when they go on. Our shepherd is 10 years old this year and starting to look very old. I dread the day. . . my youngest and this dog are like sisters.

As to turning 39, I envy you. I am much older but the time between 39 and 40 was a magic year for me. It was the time God revealed to me who I really was and what I had to offer, that I wasn't as bad as some had said. For the first time, I could look at myself in a mirror without feeling inferior. It was a magic year for me. I can only imagine what God has in store for you during this year!

Michelle said...

I'm sorry about your dog!

Happy birthday.

Joyce said...

Happy Belated Birthday Dawn...WOW!
You really have packed a lot into your 39 years! Or should I say God has filled up your years so far with a very fruitful and prosperous lifestyle!

I'm sorry about Charlie but you sure have given him a fine earthly resting place!

Milburns' said...

I am sorry to hear about Charlie. Its always hard to lose the furriest members of our families.

Hoping you still had a great birthday.

LOVE the comment about 4 being easy to the usual 10.... I would love to see those peoples faces if you would have said that! HA!

Kim said...

I'm so sorry about your puppy dog... it is so hard to lose pets. Happy Birthday, you busy, busy woman.

Kim said...

We had a man in the store once say, when we only had 3 of the 5 children with us, "Wow, you have them ALL with you today, huh?" to which Josh replied, "Nope! The other half are at home!" I really think the guy thought he was pulling his leg! SO funny!

The Sweetest Things said...

Hi there. I just wanted to say Happy Birthday {you young thing} Hope your day is filled with God's Goodness and to also say I'm so sorry to hear about your dog. I am an animal lover and I have lost 2 dogs in 8 months. They were both old we had them for 13 & 1/2 years. We miss them terribly.

The Sweetest Things said...

Oh I forgot, I live in ohio too, about where are you located.? We live around carrollton- 40 minutes north of steubenville or 35 minutes south of canton.. Just curious. Have a blessed day. hugs