Living Proof

Imagine if this was your child. Would you still say it wasn't the dog's fault? Kevin Vicente Before you start calling me "ignorant", let me just first say that I understand that animals can be unpredictable -- they are not fully domesticated and at any given time, whether due to upbringing or abuse, any animal of any breed can attack. But let's face it, the majority still points to the beloved Pit Bull, even after a gazillion stories unfold of how this breed mauls and kills children and adults. A 4 year old boy named, Kevin Vicente was seriously injured after playing with the dog and taking his bone away. Of course the Pit Bull fans will defend the dog because he was "only protecting his property" or "he wasn't trained properly".  I have even heard, "There are more attacks by Chihuahuas than there are with Pit Bulls." Let that one marinate in your mind for a bit. How many more children and adults have to be mauled and mur...

Even to till day, I'm still not used to it. I have no "alone" time when I'm home, if you're not counting humans that is. I'm stared at, jumped on and when I lay down to watch TV, I have a chihuahua sitting on top of me trying to snuggle. She's almost become more of an appendage. At night before I sleep, there's no such thing as settling in without my dog curling up either between my legs or on my chest and even under my arm. I'm a bit flip-floppy in bed cause I have insomnia issues, so Madelene usually slides her over to her side. Lola and I have a routine together. After breakfast, I have to sit outside on the deck with her to finish my coffee as she plays with her toys happily. If I go inside, she comes back in to get me. We are hardly ever without each other, unless I have to leave the house. She knows what I'm saying too. I never thought dogs were "intelligent" or even had an ounce of understanding other than "commands...

What would you do if you caught someone sneaking into your house through a window at 2am? What would you do if you were a gun owner? Unfortunately, sixteen year old Caleb Gordley from Virginia snuck out of his house to hang out with his friends. His parents had grounded him for not cleaning his room, so he took it upon himself to make a clean getaway for the evening. When he returned home after a night of heavy drinking, he had snuck into a window of his neighbor's house thinking it was his own. The neighbor unfortunately shot and killed Caleb thinking it was an intruder...but technically, it was an intruder in their eyes. The Gordley's have forgiven the neighbor for the death of their son, which is a huge and commendable thing on their part. I cannot even imagine being in their shoes. There's also that tiny thought in my head that asks, "What if it wasn't a mistake and Caleb had intentions on robbing his neighbors?" Maybe he saw something he wanted during ...

These are Lola's cousins. It's so true when people say, "If they don't have kids, they just don't understand." And while that may be somewhat true, the person may have an idea of how they'd go about taking care of a child, but not really understanding what it's like - the experience itself - to be in the parent's shoes. But this isn't about kids. It's about dogs - animals in general. I haven't had a dog since I was a kid and basically went through life in my adulthood without pets. I even developed allergies for cats and dogs since I haven't been exposed to them much. Between my OCD manias and allergies --- dogs were not going to be a part of my world. I'd hear people call their dogs "my babies" and other 'mommy-wannabe' types of sayings. I'd cringe. It's a goddamn dog. It's a pet. Come on. I never understood why some people would have a hard time putting their pets in a kennel if they had to ...

This is my story... I didn't know what to expect. I was abandoned by my parents in a huge field in the backyard of someone's house in Puerto Rico and then taken away by a couple of nice strangers in a huge van. My parents had stopped feeding me and just left me there for dead. We boarded a plane that took us over to New York. Once we got there, they placed me in a holding cell. Did I do something wrong? Why was I in jail? I wasn't the only ones in this cell. A few more were in there just like me - confused and wondering where and when our next trip would be. Would we be in here forever? Sometimes, we'd see people walking into the prison, taking out a prisoner or two. One of our very own cellmates got taken away by the head of the prison. We never saw him again. Feeding time was always rough for me. I had to always fight for my food. Others would grab the food right off of my plate. I had to hide while eating or I would starve to death. Where are my parents? ...I wis...

It's our second snowfall of the year. It looks so beautiful and Christmassy outside. It's also our first winter without Dad. He loved it when it snowed. Nothing was impossible. The forecast could have called for ten feet of snow, but it was never a challenge for my dad. He had his huge tractors and backhoes ready for whatever buried us in. Years ago, when Madelene and I lived with  my parents before moving into our condo, we had these outrageous storms that blew in. Madelene and Dad were tough cookies. They were a team. Both of them would head out in these ridiculous hats and oversized snow jackets cleaning off the cars and plowing the entire driveway clean, while my mother and I sat inside cooking and having coffee like two kept housewives. "The men are outside," I'd say to Mom. I would head up onto the deck and throw snowballs right into the cab of my father's backhoe. "Sonnovabitch! See dis kid?" he'd yell at to Madelene while she'd back h...

It's been one of those weeks where I just want to scream, "I can't laugh anymore!!!" To all my family and friends, they know me as the 'jokester' - sometimes with the most hideous jokes, but nonetheless. I make light of things and try to defuse any tense situation. ..I try. They do the same for me as well, or at least try. Yesterday morning was especially hard for me. I woke up feeling nauseous, possibly from nerves to help my mother with some personal issues to tend to and getting things situated for her back home. I made some coffee, had a little something to eat with Mad, and while I was in the bathroom, I came back out to find my Chihuahua licking up the last bits of my coffee while there were shards of the glass mug all around her. She has learned to jump onto the table now with her little 2 inch legs and knock things over. Needless to say, she zoomed around the house like Speedy Gonzales on meth. After cleaning the mess up and taking her outside t...

There's something to be said for animals sensing your emotional state. I found out Dad wasn't feeling too well. He seems to becoming much weaker. It's very hard to see someone you have always thought as "the strongest man in the world" become weakest person you know. The gradual, perhaps rapid progression of his illness is starting to show, as I denied it while seeing him happy and in no pain for about two weeks straight. When I came home yesterday, I opened the door to the happiest puppy I've ever seen. We ran on the lawn together, I let her play with her toys and then when she got tired, she joined me on the deck to relax. Mommy needed a glass of wine or three. We have an awning (oversized rafter) that extends from the house, so if you sit out on the deck, you can watch the pouring rain and not get wet. I wrapped Lola up in a fuzzy blanket that my niece Sophia gave to her --- (Sophia's baby blanket) which I thought was incredibly sentimental. Lola and ...

Say hello to Lola Felicidad Pasquella, an 8 week old Chihuahua mix from Puerto Rico. She was found in a field abandoned with her brother who was also adopted. I picked her up at a nearby rescue shelter and right away, I knew she was the perfect little addition to our family. I'm welcoming her on my blog because you'll see a lot of her in my posts since she has brought so much happiness to not only my wife and I, but to my entire family who she loves so much. She's great with my sisters' kids and all she wants is to be near you, even if she's leaning up against you chewing on her rawhide drooling all over the place. Most of you know how OCD I am about 'cleanliness' and 'germs'...  Since she's been here - not. one. concern. And the thing that baffles me is, my allergist told me I was highly allergic to dogs. After a few days of sniffling and itchy skin - all my allergy problems have disappeared - in fact - I don't have wheezing or inner ear p...