On October 21,2007 around 3:30 AM, a life altering disaster hit us hard at Rancho Del Cielo. It is amazing it has been a year, in many ways it seems still so fresh in my mind, then in some ways it seems like a bad dream. During the year there were times I would wake up in the morning and as I was waking up, with my familiar little warm bodies snuggled around me, I would think it was just a dream, I refused to open my eyes because it was then that it would be pounded in my brain again that it was not just a dream.

Over the course of the year, I have laughed about the obsession about the can opener, or washing the very dirty  dogs in the posh bathtub at the hotel, leaving a black soot ring behind, but at least they were clean,or running around looking for a store that was open to buy something to wear, anything to wear, finally finding a grocery store that was open that sold men's sweats!! Thank goodness for Bev and Gail, for bringing me some clothes, I didn't have to wear the extra large men's sweats out in public!  Or the cell phone video Bev and Dylan took of Jace as she said ?I wuv you? and ordering pizza that none of us really ate.  Then  spending 3 weeks in Lauralyn?s little trailer in the parking lot at the assisted living and every morning, Wyatt and Callie running out to greet Margie as she drove in to work at 6AM and watching Will & Grace, Walker Texas Ranger, CSI, Dog Whisper DVDs over and over again because they were  mindless and I could not handle anything that was not! Under different circumstances, all these would be fun memories to have.  Then there was moving into the trailer on the ranch, no propane, electricity , heat or phone service but we were at home! The dogs and I were settling in. Then it was time to bring Allegro, Allie, Slick and Shine home from the horrible place we had them for the month  to their temporary stalls. It was sad , their reaction to the barn being  gone was heart wrenching yet it felt so right that they were home! The last year was filled with every emotion you can feel, you get a numb feeling after a while and in a way that numb feeling is still with me, while I am stronger  in some ways, I am weaker in others, small stresses become big stresses and little things seem huge. The decision on Jace was a hard one under normal conditions, but due to the high stress, it was  beyond agonizing and incredibly sad and hard for me to deal with, it still is, I am just now getting to the point I can even look at his pictures, the thought of getting rid of his little coat and collar is something I have not been able to bring myself to do yet, even though Wyatt's father, Charlie  will get his coat and Jace's brother Wrath will get his beautiful leather collar .  The rebuilding and moving the horses in and then myself was emotional and my moving into my new place was overwhelming and filled with guilt, but it is finally feeling  like  home. Huck has brought a new happiness and his exuberance and happy personality is a welcome  relief to the sometimes down feelings that  still come up. One of the greatest gifts of all are the 2 foals we are expecting in march. Allie will foal around march 23 and Joy will foal around March 29th. Allie's foal is a blessing as she is in foal to Fames the same stallion Jewel was in foal to! That will be a special foal and we are working on a very special name, starting with Del Cielo, because it will be the first foal born out of a mare that will be our new foundation mare, Allie, the new queen of the ranch. What I have learned in all of this, is life goes on, I am alive, I have my dogs, the horses and my friends, losing beloved friends is beyond heart wrenching  but you have to move on, as long as their loss was not in vain and it was not! We have a real plan if there is a next time, after all, we never thought it would happen to us! We are healing, our wounds have scabs over them, it will be a long time of nursing those wounds before we are healed, if we are ever healed. We have a ways to go before we are completely back to where we were pre October 21, 2007, but we are on our way! I have had incredible support, from my friends, fellow dog lovers, horse lovers and people from all over the country I don't even know. I can't tell you how much it all has meant to me, I could not have made it without all the support. Thank you all and here is to a new beginning and a coming new year, may it be the best year ever!


Thank you all!