Nothing But Norman #92

Happy Saturday All!

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This coming Wednesday the 22nd of April is Earth Day.

It is also a day that I will remember forever, it is the day my dad died. Maurice Ray Bradley passed on April 22, 1994 when I was just 23 years old. So I hold Earth Day close to my heart and give back when I can. My dad’s ashes are scattered on what used to be “his property” which is now my brothers and I. We have a memorial there because besides my dad’s ashes being there my mom’s are there also. We plant tree’s there to give back to the earth for what it has given to us. My parent’s may no longer be with me but they are aiding in the growth and life of the tree’s so I find comfort in this special place.

My dad had a Chesapeake for a hunting dog when I was growing up. Trigger was the first dog that I got to go hunting with. I knew at that time there was no other breed for me.

My dad nor mom never got to meet any of our chessies in person but they met them many times when I would take the gang to this special spot to hang out with my parents. This is my go to place when I just need a moment to myself. The dogs love going to this place as it is tucked away in a back field surrounded by marshes, woodlands, cows and other wildlife so there is much to smell, see and check out without the everyday hussle and bussle of life. A place where one can go and have the memories of a life that once was and try to feel that moment again.

On 10/16/13 a couple weeks before Norman passed we paid a visit to this special place, just Norman and I. He walked over and visited with my mom and dad, he walked around the field picking up sticks and hauling them around as that was one of his favorite things to do. He sniffed the scrub oaks, sniffed the pines took in all the great smells that this earth provides. We said our goodbyes and I told him he would rest here one day when I have the strength to let a part of him go.

I have a number of pictures from this day, these are just a few, I will share more another day. These are my most favorite pictures of Norman that I look back on often. He photographed so well this day that I will remember forever and wish that I had my buddy with me again to visit this special place together again. One day buddy we will visit this place again and walk next to each other once again. Hopefully not to soon though as I have many things I need to finish up on earth.

 

 

“It’s only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth – and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up, we will then begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had.”
by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

We are joining Ruckus The Eskie and Earl’s World for Sepia Saturday.

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We are also joining The Pet Parade.

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Hosted by: Rascal and Rocco, Jan’s Funny Farm, Basil the Bionic Cat, Barking From The Bayou and Love Is Being Owned By A Husky.

Tribute To A Great Dane~ {This Moment} See Beautiful

 

Tribute To A Great Dane~{This Moment} See Beautiful

Brynn is the brindle in the back with her sister Bousha in the front. Both have crossed over the rainbow bridge.

This Great Dane was a “Great” Dane, her name was Brynn. She passed over the Rainbow Bridge this past Tuesday just two months shy of her 8th Birthday from bilateral Osteosarcoma in her front legs. Brynn was owned by my friend and coworker Margret, I’ve know Brynn since Margret and her family got her as a little baby. Brynn was a beautiful brindle girl who didn’t have a care in the world she had a goofy personality that made everyone smile. She loved her big sister Bousha until she left her a few years earlier. She kept house with 2 small children and kept them safe each day. I will miss seeing this love at work each week. Godspeed Brynn, now you can run free over the Rainbow Bridge with your new legs and back that will never go out again. Peace and love to your family you left behind.

How does one See Beautiful in death? For this answer I went to Wikiquote and this is what I found:

  • Let us learn from the lips of death the lessons of life. Let us live truly while we live, live for what is true and good and lasting. And let the memory of our dead help us to do this. For they are not wholly separated from us, if we remain loyal to them. In spirit they are with us. And we may think of them as silent, invisible, but real presences in our households.
    • Felix Adler, Life and Destiny (1913), Section 8: Suffering and Consolation.

 

  •  The bitter, yet merciful, lesson which death teaches us is to distinguish the gold from the tinsel, the true values from the worthless chaff.
    The terrible events of life are great eye-openers. They force us to learn that which it is wholesome for us to know, but which habitually we try to ignore — namely, that really we have no claim on a long life ; that we are each of us liable to be called off at any moment, and that the main point is not how long we live, but with what meaning we fill the short allotted span — for short it is at best.

    • Felix Adler, Life and Destiny (1913), Section 8: Suffering and Consolation.
  • To me the honour is sufficient of belonging to the universe — such a great universe, and so grand a scheme of things. Not even Death can rob me of that honour. For nothing can alter the fact that I have lived; I have been I, if for ever so short a time. And when I am dead, the matter which composes my body is indestructible — and eternal, so that come what may to my ‘Soul,’ my dust will always be going on, each separate atom of me playing its separate part — I shall still have some sort of a finger in the pie. When I am dead, you can boil me, burn me, drown me, scatter me — but you cannot destroy me: my little atoms would merely deride such heavy vengeance. Death can do no more than kill you.
    • W. N. P. Barbellion (Bruce Frederick Cummings), The Journal of a Disappointed Man, Chatto & Windus, 1920.
  • To live in hearts we leave behind
    is not to die.

The quotes were endless but I think these pretty much sum up my question on how does one See Beautiful in death. I believe a pet’s only fault is that they don’t live long enough. We would like them to live forever with us but in reality they can’t. As much as it hurts to loose a loved one I believe they die so we can experience a new journey in life. Hopefully we live a long life and in that long life we can have the companionship of many animals to teach us different meanings of life, show us different joys in live, walk a new adventure with us and that is where you See Beautiful. New adventures with new pet’s give us so much beauty to tuck away in our hearts to keep forever and ever long after they are gone. We are born with big hearts that never completely fill up so there is always room for a new being to share our heart with. When I write my condolences to clients who have lost a pet I usually always write “keep their memories in your heart and they will be with you forever”. The beautiful part in that is that no one or no thing can take those memories from you so a part of your loved one will be with you forever long after they pass over the Rainbow Bridge.

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together….

Author unknown…

this moment

 

{This Moment} See Beautiful is a once a month Blog Hop, every 2nd Friday of the month. simply create a blog post that made your day, week, and/or month … inspiring you in Seeing Beauty. Blog Hop inspired by See Beautiful. We thank Sugar and Miss Lydia from See Beautiful.
We are joining the monthly See Beautiful Blog Hop.  Special Thanks to Sugar and Miss Lydia from See Beautiful.

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Nothing But Norman #32

Happy Saturday Everyone!

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The below picture I submitted to Retriever Journal as a subscriber photo. I had done it awhile ago so I totally forgot that I did it and forgot what photo and narrative I sent in. It was a bittersweet surprise when I got out magazine and saw it. Norman keeps popping in to say hi after he is gone which I am so grateful for.

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I am joining Ruckus The Eskie for this Sepia Saturday blog hop!
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"No man can be condemned for owning a dog.
As long as he has a dog, he has a friend;
And the older he gets, the better friend he has."

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