Best.Birthday.Wish.Ever. – Jerzie Sets The Bar High This Year

Today is my birthday.

Now, since the emergence of MySpace and Facebook, birthdays are filled will greetings and well wishes, and I am blessed to have quite a wonderful set of people in my life. But today, one Facebook birthday greeting stood out, and actually brought tears to my eyes. It’s a surprise reminder that I was able to impact at least one little life, even when mine seemed to be falling apart. I am so grateful for this particular gift, and it was a complete surprise! Thank you, Jaime!

Remember when I was taking in strays left and right, and trying to find them homes? One of them, Sheba, almost stayed with me. She was awesome — smart, energetic, happy-go-lucky, and she snored like a train! In the end though, she was given the opportunity to live in the country with a couple who needed a companion for Jessie, the love bug they already had at home. Sheba was renamed Jerzie, and Jaime kindly has posted little videos and updates of Jerzie so I can rest easy she is happy and healthy and loved. And today, I got this:

Is there anything better than knowing you did something that worked out well for someone else? I don’t think there is!

Also today, Oliver, my bull mastiff puppy, got his shots, and was neutered today. There has been some speculation about where Oliver came from. He was found at Stand-By Personnel one weekend, and it was assumed that one of our indigent in that area couldn’t provide for him, and knew we would take him in. Well, as it would turn out, that isn’t what happened at all. Without going into a lot of detail, we met the original owner. Evidently, Oliver is a full-blooded bull mastiff. His mother is a brindle and his father is that beautiful gold that Oliver is. They are not in good health, as their owners are not able to provide for their shots, etc. and they are very thin. The dogs had a whole litter of puppies, but all of them died of parvo, except little Oliver. They assumed Oliver crawled off to die, and my friends at work let them go on thinking that. As one of them said, Oliver is where he belongs, and there wasn’t going to be any prying that dog from me anyways. I know I should feel a prick of conscience about misleading these people, especially since this dog is valuable, but I just don’t. He felt like a much needed gift from heaven, and I don’t want to give him back.

The vet today verified that Oliver is indeed a bull mastiff, and at less than 3 months old, he weights a whopping 31 pounds! They estimate he will weigh upwards of 90 pounds when he is finished growing!! I don’t care about any of that. All I know is Oliver has the coolest personality, and his little puppy kisses are often the highlight of my whole day!

All in all, I had a good birthday. Thank you all for your sweet birthday wishes!!!

~ Bird