Said goodbye to Jenn

Jennifer February 14, 1981-April 14, 2010

I was sad to hear that my coworkers niece, who I knew personally, passed away suddenly. It was very sudden and it broke the hearts of a lot of people. To lose someone so young is very hard.

When I first heard the news, I really thought it was some kind of cruel joke. How could a 29 year old girl just die in her sleep? It made me feel for the first time in my life, like I was not as invincible as I thought I was. It really changed the way I feel about those I love. I always want the people that I love to know how I feel about them because you never know when you might never see them again. The cause of death was Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC) which is a generic heart disease. The scary thing about this disease is that there in little to no symptoms. The only way people find out that they have it is sudden death. It doesn't matter how old or young you are. If it runs in the family, there is a chance that you may have it. Its a very scary and serious disease. Jenn was full of life and followed the motto "Carpe Diem" meaning "Seize the Day". A motto we should all live by.

Details ARVC- Learn more about this devastating disease. ARVC.Com - Research center to find a way to better detect and cure this disease.

Said Goodbye to Annette

Annette

June 9 1946 - March 18, 2010

Annette was a co-worker of mine. I have known her for the past 8 years. My co-workers are really close so it feels like we lost a member of our family. She lost her battle to liver cancer that she has been fighting for the last year.

Annette was a wonderful, caring, thoughtful woman who was not afraid to say how she really felt. She had a sense of humor like no one I ever met. She was not afraid of making herself look like a fool just to get a laugh. We would often joke about her potty mouth.

I know now that she is up in heaven and not in pain anymore. She will be missed greatly.

Donations: Daffodils for Cancer

Said Goodbye to a Music Legend

Michael Jackson

August 29 1958 - June 25 2009

Michael Jackson was truly a music icon for me growing up. I was born the year Thriller was released and remember watching his music videos growing up. I really want to remember Michael Jackson for being so talented. I hope that my kids one day will know him as being the King of Pop and not Wako Jacko. But Despite his crazy, sad and weird lifestyle he had a beautiful voice which provided us with fantastic songs that we all enjoy. Michael, thank you for incredible voice and all your dance moves that you left us.

Said Goodbye to Gene

Gene

October 19, 1940 - May 27, 2009

I found out today that one of my co-workers passed away last night. He was 68 years old and battling leukemia. I guess the battle was just to much. We all knew he was very sick but we thought he was getting better.

So today has been a very quiet day for all of us. I knew him since I started working here at the bank (8 years ago) and can't imagine him not coming in anymore to visit us. He was such a nice guy.

May God bless his family for going through this rough time. Gene is no longer feeling any pain or suffering anymore. May they always have casual Fridays up in Heaven.

Said Goodbye to Hero

Saying goodbye to Hero was tough. I got a call at work from my Dad telling me to get to the Vet right away. Hero was diagnosed with the same cancer that Lucky had but it spread faster then his had. We needed to make a decision right away. How horrible is that to do?

We made the choice to put him down the next day. We brought him home where I bought him prime rib and hand feed him his dinner. My heart broke as I feed him for the last time and my mom ended up sleeping with him downstairs. His breathing was rough and he couldn’t sleep. The decision to put him down was the right one.

The next day we all brought him to the Vet to say goodbye. He was so sick he needed to be carried. I said goodbye to my dog, my pet and my friend that day. I left the Vet feeling horrible and cried in bed most of that night.

Hero came to us as a puppy and was by my side all the time. I was sick with Mono when we got him and spent countless hours brushing and snuggling him. He wasn’t well behaved dog that Lucky was. He cried when he didn’t get cuddled, he stole Lucky’s food, he demanded attention 24/7 and nipped at my brother and my boyfriend (must have sensed evil). But he sure knew how to make feel better when I came home in tears.

Coming home to no dogs greeting you is tough. Seeing my dog suffer was tougher. I never regret the decision to put him down. I still miss the smell of his fur and feeling him pushed against me in the morning. I miss giving him belly rubs and rubbing his ears. I even miss that high pitch cry he had when I was upset and we yelled in the house.

I like to think of Hero running around in Heaven. Maybe he is cuddling with the angels. Stealing other dog’s food. Annoying god with his high energy and need for attention. I hope that Lucky found him and they are together again. That they dread the day Moggy (my families cat) comes up to join them. That they still want to comfort us when we are sad and lonely.

I’ll miss you Hero.

Said Goodbye to Lucky

On the day my dog, Lucky, died. He was being treated for cancer and I guess it was just too hard for him. He died at the one place that he loved the most, home. It was hard to realize that he was never going to greet me at the door when I came home. I felt like I lost a best friend and in a way I did.

Growing up with Lucky, we had a lot of good memories. He was the reason why I love dogs so much now. He was the best, cutest and well behaved dog ever. He only had an accident in the house once and that was his first night at our house.

Lucky was my first dog. He was a black lab mixed with a German Shepard. If you lifted his ears, he would look like a black German Shepard. We got him when he was just six months old from someone I knew from school. I was in second grade when we got him. We decided to not change his name and kept Lucky.

He was such a smart dog. He knew how to do a lot of tricks. At six months old he could sit, lie down and give paw. We later taught him how to beg. He could bounce a ball off his nose and would always guess which hand held a treat with his paw. My sister, brother and me would play hide and seek with him and he would always find us.

Christmas was his favorite holiday. My mom would put a little bell on his collar which let you know where he was at all times. He would get all excited and make a dash to his Christmas stocking. He knew it was filled with all his favorite treats. Pigs ears were his favorite. He also really loved his birthday (July 17). Again because he knew he was getting food.

When it would snow, he would bark to go outside. The snow would be taller then him and all you would see is this little black blob bouncing up and down. He would try to cram as much snow in his mouth as possible and turning the snow yellow was fun too. He would come in the house completely white from the snow with this big doggie grin on his face.

His favorite toys where socks and a little star that played music. He was more of a food dog and loved to eat. He loved cheese. His collar and chock chain were also his favorite things. If you tried to take it off him, he would get all upset and would not calm down until it was back around his neck.

Once, Lucky peed on a hornets nest. Over 50 hornets attached themselves to him and what did he do? He ran in the house. We didn’t realize it until I got stung twice in the neck. My Mom and my boyfriend went around the house to get rid of the hornets. Lucky’s face was so swollen from the attack. Lucky was so scared he was shaking. It was horrible. I had to lock him in the bathroom with me just to stop the hornets from attacking him. I wish I took pictures of that because its so hard to believe what happened.

When he got cancer, we decided to try chemo. He was so brave during the whole ordeal. He would go to the vet with my sister (who works there) everyone loved him. His paw got burnt from the treatments and then got infected. To prevent him from licking we put a long sleeve shirt on him. He LOVED it and looked really cute in it.

My dog, Lucky, will always be my dog, best friend and a part of my family. I will never forget him ever. I could only be so lucky as to have another dog like him in the future. I will never forget him and will always love him.

Goodbye Lucky.

Said goodbye to a Princess

Princess Diana

July 1, 1961-August 31, 1997

On this day, millions of people across the world heard the news.

Diana, Princess of Wales was fatally killed in a car accident in France. I was 14 years old when this news happened. I didn’t believe it at first. I thought that somehow Diana would be okay. But sadly I was wrong.

Growing up I idolized Princess Diana. What ordinary girl didn’t want to grow up and marry a prince? What little girl didn’t want to wear a crown and be a princess? I know I always did. Especially since Prince William is my age. I even had little paper dolls of Princess Diana. Somewhere they are stashed in the attack.

Diana was not only beautiful outside but inside as well. She had been a member of many charities and I dreamed of the day that I could one day meet her. I never let the divorce of her and Charles changes my mind about her. In fact, it made me like her even more to see that she was an independent and outspoken woman who wasn’t afraid to say it like it is. I watched with my mom her funeral along with millions of other viewers. It was a sad day. We lost a real life angel. You don’t find too many people like her in this world.