**flashy poo-poo!

well if you have been keeping up on facebook then you would know that we almost lost our little flashy!! he contracted parvo. thank goodness we caught it early, spent a lot - a WHOLE LOT OF MONEY to make him well - but quite frankly, he is so worth it. i know some people think it is unwise to spend so much on an animal (clay) BUT, we didnt have to choose between feeding our children. we have the money to help our little flashy overcome this deadly disease. he is still sick but he is soooo much better than he was and he will steadily improve. he will be on antibiotics & anti-diaretics for the next 8 days.
this dog loves me. i'm not just saying that. i think he knows that i took him to the vet to save him...to make him feel better. he sits on the top of my foot when we are eating or when i am washing dishes or standing & talking to someone. he genuninely loves me. i was doing something in the bedroom tonight, standing at the bed & he came over & sat at my foot & just leaned up against my leg. he seeks me out. he walks with me through the property. mind you, so does calpurnia...sit with me, sleep on my bed at night...seek me out...love me above all else....but there is something different about this little beagle. he has a different temperament than the other dogs. he is sooooo sweet. just so sweet. i cant think of another word that properly describes him. quite frankly i am honored by his love for me. i feel unworthy of this precious little dogs love - just as i feel with my kids...like i am a fraud & that i will disappoint them at some point in their lives. but for now i will take his love & return it the best i can.
he is like the gentle boy who lovingly does what his mother ask with joy because she asked something of him. that's flash. i know it's weird for me to say that about him, but he is really a blessing of a dog and we all love him. i am thankful for the Dr. Hayden at Centerville Animal Hospital for promptly & succinctly addressing his illness & treating him aggressively yet conservatively with regards to our finances. she was honest & forthright with us. she understood our situation & she didnt mind when all of our children - actually the whole family - came for one of flash's fluid treatments as she has 5 children of her own.

i also believe all the prayers sent up for flash helped him start to heal so quickly. the vet said she had never seen a pup recover so quickly. after the first 12 hours of treatment flash was a wiggling ball of excitment - still only 25% of what he had been before the parvo, but better than the sick pup he was 12 hours earlier. we were all pleasantly surprised at how well he has responded to treatment. all i know is flash, along with calpurnia (yorkie)...and readen (cocker spaniel)...and liberty (german shepherd dog)...and phineas & ferb (our cats) show us God's love on a consistent basis....love unconditional....always there to listen....always willing to wipe away our tears (or lick in their case)....always willing to forgive us any indiscretion we might commit against them. i love my animals. it's a good life.

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" Matthew 6:26

"Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring--it was peace." - Milan Kundera

**esther calls flash "flashy poo-poo" and then leans in for kisses & he gladly obliges!