Puck

Yesterday, we lost our beloved Puck. He was 12 years old and passed peacefully at home with us.

When we first got him, It was just Chris and me; we hadn't had the boys yet or even gotten married. For a long time, it was just the three of us.

When we brought Stasiu home from the hospital, priorities shifted, for us and Puck. He had a new job; protector and best friend. He wouldn't leave Stasiu's side, even following me around while I walked him, put him to bed and played. Puck would lay in the floor and just let Stasiu pull on his ears, jowels and whatever he could reach. 

Even as he got older, he was gentle with the boys. He

crawled into this crate to get a nap. The boys crawled in right after him and he just snuggled in.

We were really lucky to have such a wonderful pet for as long as we did. Toward the end, he moved less, slept a lot but was still happy to see us and get snuggles and scratches.

Stasiu, my 8 year old, showed what a remarkable young man he is. I found Puck in the living room. I called Chris in to the room. We all cried and hugged and kissed Puck. The hard part was Chris had to take him to our Veterinarian now. I had notified him and he was expecting us, but it didn't make it easier. Stasiu then decided he would go with his Dad to the vet so he could be there for his Dad and for Puck. He wrote Puck a note telling him he loved him and it was put with him.

Chick-Fil-A and Freedom of Speech

The Chick-Fil-A president is all  over the news and media these days. If you haven't heard about it, then you are probably living in a remote jungle somewhere blissfully ignorant about what's going on.

Whether you agree with what Dan Cathy said or not is irrelevant; he has every RIGHT to say it. While it is surprising he said it so publicly (from a purely business standpoint), it's not surprising that it is his view. This is a CHRISTIAN company, people. They have all out advertised that they are Christian from the get-go. They advertise that they are closed on Sundays so their employees can go to church.The fact that he said he believes that marriage is between a man and a woman should not surprise anyone. Is it good business practice to possibly shun an entire section of the community? Only time will tell. How many companies have been thrust into the media spotlight and survived?

Just in case you aren't sure what he said, here in an excerpt taken from the Washington Post on his interview with an online Baptist journal, "“very much supportive of the Biblical family unit. We are a family owned business, a family led business, and we are still married to our first wives.While my family and I believe in the Biblical definition of marriage (between a male and female), we love and respect everyone, who disagrees.”

I find it interesting, that until I read this I hadn't realized that the divorcees should also be up in arms.

Today, there were floods of Christians who support heterosexual marriage at CFA (note: not free speech) and Friday there are rumors of the GLBT community going for a "kiss-in" to support their side. I don't want to see anyone, gay, lesbian, hetero, whatever tounging, so I think I'll skip that.

Here's what I find interesting; the media rhetoric going back and forth.The Christian community hasn't come out and blasted the GLBT community for their crude comments about CFA. But, apparently the GLBT community believes that if you speak out against the GLBT community, you are the worst of the worst. That is no way to handle yourselves. I understand that it is upsetting to hear on such a wide reaching level, but take a page out of CFA and choose your words more carefully.

That being said, this is about FREE SPEECH. Dan Cathy has every right to state his beliefs. The GLBT community has every right to state theirs. Here's mine: I have no problems whatsoever with ANY marriage between two people. The marriages I have a problem with are the ones that last 6 months (or less), the ones that QUIT when things get tough, the ones that QUIT because they want to see if the grass is greener, the ones thatQUIT because of infedelity....You get my point? I support Dan Cathy because he has every right to FREE SPEECH, I support the GLBT community because they, too, have every right to FREE SPEECH.

We have bigger issues, people, than what Dan Cathy and the GLBT community have to say right now.