Babe's Gone

I came into the living room last night looking for Charlie, "Babe, where's the..." only to be promptly informed, "Babe's gone." by little miss who, despite being entranced by her latest hearthrob prancing across the TV screen (Cinderella), somehow knows the latest whereabouts of the various family members (Lowes), and who also knows that "Babe" is interchangeable with "Daddy" and "Charlie Micka." Since when does a three year old call her daddy "Babe"?

Well, that whole thing got me thinking about who is gone and who is present in our lives today. Grandma and Grandpa (Shackelford) are gone. First Grandpa left and then Grandma departed four days later. I think she just checked out, knowing her time had come and hoping that she would be reunited with her husband of 65 years on the other side. Grandpa loved that sometimes difficult, often stubborn, lady so steadily for so long. I think (hope!) that's how Charlie will be with me. I miss Pockadooli and Chickabocka. See my photos of the (informal) memorial here. I actually had a really good week with everyone. Carrie flew in, and Courtney and Joey were there, and little Gia, and Kay and mom. For once we had what seemed like so much free time together. Usually when we come to town, everyone has to fit into a time slot. This time, everyone just cleared thier calendars and we had so much free-flowing time just to be together and support one another. The week did finally draw to a close- Charlie flew in on Friday; (Mina and I had driven over by ourselves since he had to work-- sadly, we were just 3 hours too late to say goodbye to Grandma- she passed quietly in her bedroom with Carol and Kay by her side while Mina and I were speeding through to the desert.) So our week in Tucson was over, but a new chapter in our lives was just begining: Grandma and Grandpa's dog, Allie Oops, was coming to live with us. Yes, a dog. In our house. For Real.

She's doing great. And I'm actually loving having a dog. Granted, she's a pretty easy pet. Charlie doesn't even think she's a real dog: she doesn't bark, doesn't wine, doesn't run after other animals. He says she's just a stomach on legs. Actually she is a tad (OK, more than a tad) overweight. Grandpa was prone to giving her short walks and frequent treats. But she's just very docile and sweet. She's good with Mina and Mina likes being able to boss her around. I guess our family is complete: One mom, one dad, one kid, one bird and one dog. Home Sweet Home.