My second parents came out this past weekend for a visit with us before they headed off on an Alaskan cruise. For those of you who may not know, my mom was pregnant with me when she and my dad met Mark and Charlene (who was then pregnant with Chad). It was a fast, preggo-tummy hugging friendship from the start and hasn't let up since.
Having "Second parents" in my life for the past (almost) 26 years comes with its blessings and a few curses. The blessings are they are wonderful people that I love to be with and we have far too many memories and inside jokes. The curse is they can bring up the time I complained incessantly about how hard my trip to Venezuela was. Or when I went through my "missionary bun" phase. Or when I insisted my room be painted the color of Pepto Bismal. Or a host of other embarrassing phases I don't even care to mention...
But that's when these friends cross over into family and you learn that them knowing the good and the bad really is better.
After picking them up at the airport and bringing them home late in the evening, we all settled down with a glass of wine to chat up a storm and sing accolades of Roy. He, for his part, fell instantly in love with Charlene's long nails and her willingness to scratch his butt.
If you have yet to visit us and meet him, that is his secret. Butt scratches and treats.
The next morning Mark took Roy on a walk where they played with the horses down the road. When he told me that I said he was pulling my leg, but no, he insisted the horses were drawn to Roy (Mark said he thought the horses took him for a colt since they were the same color), and Roy got his paws up on the fence and sniffed nose to nose with the horses.
I tended to continue to doubt this story until last Saturday when I took Roy for a run.
As we went by the stables, two horses that were far up the hill came GALLOPING towards us! I stopped and stared at them from across the street, Roy whining and lunging towards them like he does when he sees a dog. I crossed the street and stood a few feet away from the horses to see how they would react to Roy. They weren't scared at all, they stood with ears pricked forward and stretching their noses towards him. Then I got nervous and took off down the road, knowing the animals could sense my feelings and reflect them...but it was just weird how they were drawn to that dang dog of mine!
On our way back, the horses once again came galloping toward the fence when they saw us. This time I let Roy get nose to nose with a big black mare...Roy's tail wagging and the mare snuffing her big horse lips right in Roy's face. Then I got scared again and took off. Everything seemed fine but if Roy snapped or anything I certainly didn't want to be responsible. In my mind I could see things going like this:
As far as I could tell, though, those horses definitely had a thing for Roy, and the feeling seemed mutual!
Changing topics, when we were about to head out for the day on Saturday when Mark produced a laminated sign with a picture of none other than my parents on it. It had a handle, and he had a backup sign should one become damaged. The point of this sign was to have my parents everywhere we went...and they surely were.
And I mean ev-ry-whe-re.
Having "Second parents" in my life for the past (almost) 26 years comes with its blessings and a few curses. The blessings are they are wonderful people that I love to be with and we have far too many memories and inside jokes. The curse is they can bring up the time I complained incessantly about how hard my trip to Venezuela was. Or when I went through my "missionary bun" phase. Or when I insisted my room be painted the color of Pepto Bismal. Or a host of other embarrassing phases I don't even care to mention...
But that's when these friends cross over into family and you learn that them knowing the good and the bad really is better.
After picking them up at the airport and bringing them home late in the evening, we all settled down with a glass of wine to chat up a storm and sing accolades of Roy. He, for his part, fell instantly in love with Charlene's long nails and her willingness to scratch his butt.
If you have yet to visit us and meet him, that is his secret. Butt scratches and treats.
The next morning Mark took Roy on a walk where they played with the horses down the road. When he told me that I said he was pulling my leg, but no, he insisted the horses were drawn to Roy (Mark said he thought the horses took him for a colt since they were the same color), and Roy got his paws up on the fence and sniffed nose to nose with the horses.
I tended to continue to doubt this story until last Saturday when I took Roy for a run.
As we went by the stables, two horses that were far up the hill came GALLOPING towards us! I stopped and stared at them from across the street, Roy whining and lunging towards them like he does when he sees a dog. I crossed the street and stood a few feet away from the horses to see how they would react to Roy. They weren't scared at all, they stood with ears pricked forward and stretching their noses towards him. Then I got nervous and took off down the road, knowing the animals could sense my feelings and reflect them...but it was just weird how they were drawn to that dang dog of mine!
On our way back, the horses once again came galloping toward the fence when they saw us. This time I let Roy get nose to nose with a big black mare...Roy's tail wagging and the mare snuffing her big horse lips right in Roy's face. Then I got scared again and took off. Everything seemed fine but if Roy snapped or anything I certainly didn't want to be responsible. In my mind I could see things going like this:
As far as I could tell, though, those horses definitely had a thing for Roy, and the feeling seemed mutual!
Changing topics, when we were about to head out for the day on Saturday when Mark produced a laminated sign with a picture of none other than my parents on it. It had a handle, and he had a backup sign should one become damaged. The point of this sign was to have my parents everywhere we went...and they surely were.
And I mean ev-ry-whe-re.
Here's a quick tour of where my Mom and Dad went while my 2nd Mom and Dad were in Seattle:
Had enough? Well we hadn't!
That's just a fraction of the Mom-and-Dad-shots Mark got. I'll fill you in later on what we did other than drag that picture around...till next time when you start to miss someone who may live far away, try toting around a sign of their face everywhere.
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