Oh janis, that was very special. since i believe in angels. I think it was an angel. Strange actions for a dog. If it was a dog,i hope he comes back.
I've been thinking about you and am sorry things are so hard for you right now. I think you have shown yourself to be a very strong person but alas we are human and sometimes our safety valve has to be released.
Keep talking to us here because it helps you and we care.
(((HUGS JANIS AND NEIL)))
vickie

What a great experience and it sounds like exactly what you needed. You do have a lot on your shoulders and sometimes a good cry and a dog are all it takes. It's happened to me,except it was my own dog who searched me out. Some of them are amazing Empaths. Jan,is Katrina living with you?

Sweet Jan,

Angels unaware.

He knew when you needed one.

It's amazing how some dogs are just "heart dogs" and know just how to heal a breaking heart. They know just what to say... which is nothing, punctuated by affection and stillness. I'm so glad such a tender creature found you when you needed him most. And I'm so sorry you have the weight of the world on your shoulders right now.

A great story Jan, I know that animals can have an empathy for someone who really needs a special friend. They have no agenda for themselves just wanting to comfort and be there.

Marda, Katrina was spending the weekend. She was helping me
go through years of bank statements, canceled checks, tax
records, etc. She is very organized and no doubt when this
move happens, she'll have me whipped into shape.

I keep looking for my furry angel but haven't seen it again.
It sure was a sweet gentle dog.

Janis: I've been thinking about you all week...I've been reading a book set in the South, and one of the phrases running through the book is "bless her heart", meant in apparently the true Southern fashion. :) Everytime I ran across it I smiled and thought of your stories.

Lisa

Lisa, "Bless your heart" has many meanings in the south.

Michelle lived amongst us and she came up with at least
one way it is used that was in my opinion priceless. I have
to say that she has our number for the most part.

Most of the time I use it as a term of endearment
especially among friends. Southerners couldn't carry on
a conversation without blessing someone's heart or
saying y'all.

Janis: I'm not originally from the South, and Oklahoma is not technically the South, but I find I use that expression almost daily too :)

I might be remembering Michele's description. When they described it in the book, it just reminded me of something that was said on here and in my mind it was attached to you.

Here's an excerpt:

Grace Bagshaw Vance will end up in jail, in the gutter, or drunk on martinis in some fancy nuthatch for ex-beauty queens," people whispered about me. "Bless Her Heart."
It was true. By the day Stone Senterra came to my Georgia hometown to make a movie about my husband, Harp Vance, I was ready to kill him and accept the consequences. I'd become a deadly, determined, Bless Her Heart kind of southern belle. A cracked belle, you could say. Grieving can take over a person's life like a sinister charm, inspiring good causes and noble dedication at the expense of true healing. It's possible to both pity and fear a mourner who's gone just a little bit funny and more than a little bit dangerous. I qualified on both counts. In the South, the dreaded BHH is attached to your name with admiring sympathy but also a dollop of fear. You are no longer a dependably entertaining person and may even stoop to becoming an embarrassment.

Lisa

We've had a lot of fun with that expression on the GP.
I have to say that the guy that was going to buy my house,
just about turned me against it. Every time I turned
around he was blessing my heart until I wanted to scream,
"stop". He said it in sympathy but it was wearing a little
thin. It is second nature to us and I dare say most of
us are not even aware that we are saying it.

Your book sounds interesting, maybe i've already become
a cracked belle.

We have several relatives in Oklahoma. Now there's one
place that gets hotter than it does in Georgia in the summer.

There is also the other meaning of "bless your heart." In fact, I always wait for whatever is coming next when I hear those words. Like, "Bless your heart, I guess you didn't know __________(fill in the blank about what the speaker perceives you've been stupid about)" Or "Bless here heart, she just doesn't have the sense to come out of the rain." It's a very multi-faceted phrase down here.

No doubt about it - that was a special friend sent to you just when you needed it most.

If, while you're riding this particular roller coaster, you are wondering if you are strong enough to get thorugh it all, or even if you've begun to lose it. Look at the past few years with a very critical eye...

Your world has been re-shaped and turned inside out, with nothing going as you had thought your life would be. Your partner is facing uncertainty and change that you would gladly bear in his stead. You're scrambling to get things where you can control them by yourself better, giving up things you love and planned for over many years to accomlish it.

Any normal person would have a good cry or two or three or four... be angry...not bitter...just angry, and need some time now and again for a good hug from a creature that most often lives to give pure unequivocated love.

I would say you're doing just fine. You're doing everything you need to do. You did not ask for this. You're adjusting and accepting, and taking charge, stepping up to the plate.. but no, you don't have to always LIKE it... None of us would.