NOVEMBER
RECAP
November, 2014, wasn’t a month of great joy
in this house. Well, the dogs remained happy and contented all month long, but
I lost two very dear friends in November, and I resent it like fire.
Yes, I know that once you’re here, there’s only
one way out, and we’re all going to die one day. However, when my dear friend,
Sara Hoge, died in the early part of the month, her passing hurt. Heck, I even
made a flying trip (literally) to California in order to attend her memorial
service at the glorious Neighborhood Church in Pasadena. Sara’s last remaining
brother was there, and so were her three daughters and all of their children
(they’re all grown-ups. Funny how that happens). Anyway, it was great to see
everyone, including both of my daughters and my younger grandson Riki. Riki and
I pretty much ate our way through Pasadena. I stayed with another great friend,
Barbara Masters, and I’d forgotten how much fun we used to have together. So
even though the occasion for getting together was solemn, the trip was a huge
success. This, in spite of arriving at the Hollywood-Burbank Bob Hope Airport
at 9:30 p.m. and having to drive from there in a rental car to Altadena, CA,
and Barbara’s house. On the freeway. In the dark.
It’s been sixteen or seventeen years since
I’ve driven on an L.A. freeway at night. Trust me when I tell you that FAR more
people live in Southern California than live in Southeastern New Mexico. The
rental guy talked me into getting a GPS device for the car, and I’ll be forever
grateful to him for that, because the GPS lady, Ms. Ratchett (I’d just read a
Jeanne Glidewell book in which the GPS lady was Ms. Ratchett, so it came
naturally) directed me to Barbara’s house perfectly. I was terrified the whole
way there (all those headlights; sheesh!) but she didn’t miss a tip or a turn.
Whew!
Later on in the month, a sadder death
occurred, mainly because the dead guy, a wonderful man named Steven Dierks, was
only sixty years old. He’d recovered from a battle with stomach cancer and he
and his wife Kate were blissfully looking for houses to buy so they could get
away from the New Jersey town in which they lived. Then, out of the blue, Steve
was diagnosed with stage-four renal-cell cancer. Steve and Kate went through
four months of hell only to be told on a Friday that he was cancer-free. Then
he died Saturday night. Not fair. I don’t approve.
I met Kate and Steve through dog rescue. They
were into Sheltie rescue, kind of like I’m into Dachshund rescue. They’d driven
through Roswell (which very few people ever do, because Roswell isn’t on the
way to anywhere), noticed a scruffy little terrier mix at the Roswell Humane
Society, and fell in love with her. They left her there, but kept in touch with
the RHS folks. Finally, the little doggie’s time was up. Carole Rogers, the RHS
kennel manager, called to ask me if I’d be willing to foster a terrier until
transport could be arranged to get the pup to Kate and Steve in New Jersey.
What the heck. So I fostered the dog who eventually came to be called Bridey
until Steve could make arrangements to fly to the Albuquerque Sun Port to pick
her us. My wonderful neighbors, Barry and Ann Lasky, drove Bridey to Steve, and
Steve (after trying and failing to put a diaper on Bridey) put her in a little
crate, and flew her home to New Jersey under the seat in front of him on the
airplane. And now Steve is gone, and Bridey, Kate, and Harper (Bridey’s Sheltie
sister) are left to mourn.
There are aspects of life of which I just
don’t approve, and this is one of the biggest. Phooey.
I’ll be giving away advanced
reading copies (ARCs) of Thanksgiving
Angels some time after the first of the year (because I’m going on a
planned trip to Southern California for Christmas and won’t be home until after
the beginning of 2015). If you’d like to enter, just send me your name and home
address at: alice@aliceduncan.net I’ll drop your name into my winner-picking
wiener dog’s special contest doggie dish, and Bam-Bam (my winner-picking wiener
dog) will select winners when the time comes.
Also, please feel free to visit my
web site at www.aliceduncan.net and my
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/alice.duncan.925
Thank you!
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