The One With Bizi Rocket Tapley

 7/29/10-7/29/13

          Spunky, feisty, energetic, busy- that was our Bizi alright. Bizi became a Tapley not more than a month after my move home. She was still a young pup and I remember the night we took Dharma to my Cousin Bob’s house to meet her. Dharma came along so we could see if they would get along- which they did more often times than not. For the longest time Bizi could not figure out how to cuddle and teaching a dog to cuddle is not easy. I remember her collapsing onto me and contorting into an awkward cuddle, yet with time, her cuddles became much more natural and precious.

            Bizi was often a lot to handle. She barked a lot, picked a lot of fights, peed a lot, and chewed on shoes a lot. Through all those stubborn moments though, she was smart. She knew when to take herself to her crate when she was upset, she knew when to cuddle when someone else was upset, and she knew how to keep the backyard free of wild animals (moles, birds, bunnies, raccoons, etc.) She gave us much to write about and much to learn from.

            There was always some sort of trouble or near death experience that Bizi was narrowly escaping. Once she broke loose from her leash and went flying through the neighborhood only to get hit by a car. We nursed her back to health and she survived, although she did have a lasting limp. Another time she drank Dharma’s liquid flea medicine and was force fed hydrogen peroxide to vomit it out of her system. Again, she survived, although that did not stop her from eating or drinking things that were bad for her. It was these incidents that gave up hope that she would recover after having eaten rotten trash and not eating anything else for days. It was the vet’s persistent attempts that made us optimistic, and it is our love that continues to mend the brokenness in our hearts.

            I am thankful for the moments I took advantage of and played with Bizi in the snow, sucked it up and took her on walks, allowed her onto my bed to play (even though she still peed nearly every time), and the one time I took her to the dog park with Dad and Dharma.

       She was a crazy cool pup and for as awful as her early departure was, she will forever have a special place in my heart. Much love Bizi. Now, go find Pappy John and play with him if you have not yet done so. 

The One With Stopping Time

Recently, time stopped for a very special and unique soul. She was a social and fashion forward woman I served through my job. Through honoring her life by telling stories and remembering her joking ways I am reminded to take a deep breath (because I can) and to take in everything I can about the good moments when they come my way. Learning to take advantage of the good times is my way of making it through this crazy life.

There are a lot of moments in my life when I feel time stop, although maybe pause is a better word. These moments are most often the times I spend with my silly family and the times I spend with friends that I choose to call family. I feel incredibly blessed to experience so many of these moments and continue breathing when the next moment comes.

In the last few weeks time has paused when I chat with my best friend and love on her newborn daughter, when I stand at the waterfront and watch my friends attempt to light lanterns, when I dance the night away after witnessing an awesome couple vow their lives to each other, when I cheers to life with Italian Margaritas shared with fun girls, when I am invited to celebrated the birthday of a long time friend, when I go vintage shopping with my parents and my aunts, when I eat crepe, and when I celebrate the marriage of a fun couple at an annual anniversary party.

Time is a weird thing. Sometimes it speeds by and sometimes is passes in slow motion. All in all, there is never enough. It is the moments when time is irrelevant that I know something special is happening and it is those moments that I remember when all else fails.