Giving In To The Chaos

I am giving in to the chaos of construction.  Time away, even though it was only one night at the cabin, spending time with friends, laughter and a few glasses of wine, have given me the breather I needed.  I have cancelled the new book club meeting that I had scheduled for Wednesday night and I'm cancelling the house cleaning that would have taken place.  There is no point on that one.  I have opened my schedule to let the chaos rule my world.  I even cancelled my hair appointment, twice, for the gray coverage.  I am going to live with it a bit longer.  

Actually, something happened yesterday that has put a new perspective on my life and that what is going on in it is NOTHING.  An old friend of ours lost her husband and it was so very tragic I can hardly put it into words.  There was a gang related shooting at one of the Best Buy's here in town, not far from our home actually, and that alone is scary.  He was inside the store with his 12 year old daughter when a stray bullet came through the door, hit him square in the heart.  Down he went with his daughter asking if he was okay.  The last words he spoke were, "No!"  He was gone in that instant.  An innocent bystander on a Saturday afternoon excursion with his precious daughter and his life was ended by the stupidity of gang violence.  The man outside, the intended target was also killed.   This horrific tragedy makes the crap I have been complaining about NOTHING, absolutely nothing.  I can't imagine how K's life has been so tragically devastated by this.  One minute you have a happy little family and the next it has been ripped apart, smashed into oblivion.  My heart goes out to K and her small daughter and her older daughter E that is one of B's dearest friends.  I've known E for over 25 years and cannot imagine the heartache she has for the loss of her dear stepfather that she loved.  The pain that her little sister is going through now and the trauma that has befallen on her.  Senseless, absolutely senseless.  

Neighbors - Creepy Update - CAUTION when reading

I failed to mention on the previous week of posts about certain houses and some interesting memories, not so good really.  First is the Knoxville House where sweet Myrtle one evening ran to our house beating on the door screaming, "Dave shot Phyllis, Dave shot Phyllis."  The Hubby wasn't home and I was panicked by this.  It was a terrible story and I was very young, 22 years old and never, NEVER had been a part of something like it.  Her niece was shot point blank by her husband during a domestic thing.  She had gone to pick up some stuff with two police officers on either side of her and as they walked down the sidewalk to the car he came out of the house and shot her dead.  I did not know Phyllis or Dave but I knew Myrtle and I was devastated.  Definitely marked my memories.

The second home, The 58th Street Home had a story after we moved.  The people who bought the house were, shall we say a bit weird, a LOT weird.  There was a husband, wife and a grown son who lived with them.  They were all on all kinds of medication for various things and none worked, they were all on disability for mental somethings.  Well, the pool caused problems because they did not know how to take care of it and were calling The Hubby every year to help them take care of closing and opening and being the kind guy he is, he helped for a couple of years.  Then, one year they called to inform us that their adult son committed suicide in his chair in front of the fireplace (it wasn't pretty).  Great, that is where The Hubby's chair sat with the girls in his lap watching television.  GREAT, just great.  We could have done without that picture in our heads.  The pool has since been filled in and my wonderful flowerbeds are all gone and I've left that house far, far behind.

The Double 07 house came with the memories that are a bit terrifying to A and her memories.  It wasn't the house but the neighborhood.  Around the corner was a house that my child had been to play with the little girl that lived there.  They were in the same class in elementary school.  One day (Oct 19, 19970 I got a phone call at the office from the older girl B to inform me of a tragedy at the house.  The father, Ron Fluke carried out a heinous crime in that house to which he was eventually executed.  I won't go into it but you can read a brief thing about it clicking his name.  It traumatized my daughter who could not understand how a father could do something like that to a daughter.  Her friend Kathryn was gone.  How do you explain something like that to an 11 year old.

Hopefully, in our new house we won't ever have these kind of tragedies to deal with.

Tragedy

Do you see this face, this face was one of the sweetest faces you will ever kiss.  His name was Johnny Angel, a Great Pyrenees, a pet and a friend, forever!

Johnny Angel was much loved by many of the children that come to visit and play at our community lake/cabin retreat compound.  My friend P's cabin is down the road from Johnny Angel's cabin and when he sees her grandchildren arrive he would beat it to their door to get some lovin'.  Johnny Angel was a groomed and tagged pet who would grin at you as he came upon you.  Our little heaven on earth place is a lover of all animals, but especially dogs, of which nearly all of us have 1+ that are part of our families.  Johnny Angel's adoptive parents, Paula & Paulla, have picked up many, many, many strays and dumped dogs along those country roads, taken them in, fed, nursed and found happy homes for them.  Johnny Angel was one of those dumped dogs that happened into their lives. 

On Monday, December 12, Johnny Angel wandered up the hill behind "our" property to a very unfriendly neighbor's land.   He encountered "someone" on that hill, at least that is where the blood trail led to.  Paula found Johnny Angel in the meadow where he dragged his maimed body that fateful Monday.  He had been shot twice, his jaw gone.  Loading the sweet gentle giant in her truck with help from sobbing friends he was rushed to the vet and helped to end his terrible suffering.  So many tears have been shed and our hearts are just crushed by this tragedy.

The sheriff was called and several of our residents went to the property where the blood trail led to confront the alleged offenders.  "We didn't shoot your white dog!"  Uh, yeah right.  Unfortunately, in the country, it is a practice that if a dog wanders onto your property you shoot it.  I'm sorry but what about all the many other strays that the P's have taken in that have wandered but usually starve to death or are hit by vehicles and NOT SHOT.  I know they can pack and all but this sweet little guy was groomed and tagged, obviously!  I'm sorry but that practice is HORRIBLE!  It is scary that one of our residents or children or other pets might accidentally wander on his property and one of his hired guns or himself might shoot and ask questions later! 

Now we have to tell those precious grandchildren that their friend that always comes to watch TV and serve as their pillow is gone, forever.  They will never be told how horribly Johnny Angel died as we adults know.  My mind cannot get the image of how he was gunned down and suffered out of my mind.  A great horror has happened and it will not leave my mind.

Remember Johnny Angel.