Yesterday was my 43rd birthday.
It was a nice low key day spent with my best friend, his beagle and my Squeaks.
The day before that was my last day at my job at CA. I had been in that job for 8+ years and I am very good at it. Leaving won't change that.
However it was time for a change.
As such, tomorrow morning, bright and early, I start my new as a Technology Architect III at a new company.
I am excited and scared and sad.
I don't handle change very well, even ones I put into action. But I know that this is something I need right now to grow professionally. However, I will miss all of the co-workers I leave behind.
They were my family in as much as they could be.
So here is to the end of a year for me and a work era and to the beginning of a new year and new path professionally.
A
year ago today I lost the best thing that ever happened to me. Many
people on my feed may not understand, but many of you will and, even
better, many of you knew him.
Yes, I'm talking about my little
monkey boy, Cliff the Mutt. I got him when he was 4 months old and he
was mine and mine only from day one. He is why I support rescues, why I
volunteered at the Humane Society and, with Oscar the Dog, why we
walked in the Human Race very year for the Healdsburg Animal Shelter.
He and I were a Pet Assisted Therapy team. People that hadn't moved or
responded in weeks would smile, or reach out a hand, or speak when they
saw Cliff. They didn't care about the chick holding his leash and that
was okay.
He brought such joy
into my life and helped me through more pain and sadness than 15 pounds
of fur and squeaky monkey noises should ever have to for a person. I
wouldn't have made it through any of it without him there with me.
He let me drag him on planes to visit sick in laws. He traveled every
where in the RV. He went on the Jet Skis with me (VERY unwillingly but
always safely). He slept through my driving. Many a road trip to
Tucson happened with him in the passenger seat.
Lastly, with
his health already failing, he let me move him halfway across the
country so I could have a new start in a new place. It would not have
gone as well without him.
Its hard to believe that he's been gone a year already. The Squeaks keep me busy now, but I think of
Cliffy every day. A part of him ended up in my Ru Ru. He has the same
white check on his belly. He squeaks and sings when I get home like
Cliff and he lays under the desk when I'm at the computer and snuggles
with me at night.
So Cliff may be gone, but his soul is still
here and his memory will always be with me. His eyes are my FB timeline
cover photo and always will be. Because he always saw people for what
they were, I was no exception. He loved me unconditionally and I still
try to spend a bit of every day making sure I still deserve that.
I love you and miss you so much Cliffy Mutt.
