This weekend marks the birthday of my sister who would haved turned 64 tomorrow. Growing up, I envied her summer birthday celebrations. I got blizzards and weather-related postponed parties and she got beaches and pool parties. We were very different, yet very close. I still can’t believe she is seven years gone. I know she would’ve loved visiting me in Georgia, and now later in Central Florida. I have to admit that I still envy all the sister vacations and fun I see others enjoying so often shared on social media posts, but I’m glad for those who still get to have those moments.
Manette’s son, Zac, who passed in 2022, was like a son to me and for a while in the early 1980s, after my room mate and I lost our lease in Greenwich Village, New York, I moved back to my hometown of Hackensack, New Jersey. We resided together in what I felt must be like living on the set of a Sitcom. At the time my sister was a single working mom and the three of us formed a tight bond. It still remains a very special time in my life. My parents also lived in our family home across town next to my brother and his family. I’m so glad for those days when we all lived in one locale.
My sister was a horse-lover and when we lived in Boulder, Colorado, for a year, she at the age of 13, fostered an abused horse. I wrote a story about how she came to bring that horse to our home and would publish it each year on my now defunct National Dog Week blog each June. I even read that post at her wake and people still ask me to tell that story. Here is the link if you’d like to read it. (Reprinted June 2020). It will make you smile. https://nationaldogweekbook.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/a-horse-for-a-year-but-a-memory-forever-a-birthday-tribute/
Manette adored horses, I was the kid who loved dogs, and rodents, my late brother, Matt, was the “Crazy Cat Guy”, and John had a cool saltwater fish tank. I often refer to our home as the Menagerie on the Hill, as it stood on one of the highest points of Bergen County offering a sweeping vista of the New York City skyline and all the magic that it promised.
Last week I attended another meeting organized by the Animal Welfare League that is now comprised of myself and three very dedicated animal advocates with whom I’ve had the pleasure to work since March. Putnam County, Florida, is one of the largest in geographic areas in the state with many low-income families. Many dogs run wild, and continual additions of litters of puppies and kittens flood the shelters that are overcrowded. These dedicated volunteers have now been able to secure the funds for a state-of-the-art Spay and Neuter trailer soon to up and running. Now the challenge is to convince people to have their pets “fixed”. The county’s shelter in Palatka is expandeding as well and a new website has been launched to make sure every cat, dog, or other shelter animal is presented in a way that will help them find new homes quickly.
In my efforts to help them, I am working with the media and other venues to share and update on progress being made on the front of the AWL and its stakeholders who donate their time and energy trying to make positive change. At this particular meeting I sat next to Tim Williams who is running for a county commissioner seat. I wish him luck (I am not yet a Florida resident, so can’t vote). If you have any input from your own regions, please feel free to reach out. [email protected].
And so a new phase seems to be taking shape in my life. I’m now nearing the 20,000 word mark on my Memoir and that writing helps to keep me centered. It also helps me to recall and recreate stories to share with others, and in turn hopefully help them as well.
Have a very safe and sound Independence Day. And Happy Camera Day, too. Make it snappy.
