Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Turkey Day in the US! Here's a wild turkey, in its natural habitat.

Today is also "Thanks Blogville" day, a concept that I would not have understood before I wrote my first post almost six years ago. I had no idea that my simple little posts would lead to such a wonderful network of friends as those I've found in Blogville.

Blogville is a group where we support each other through thick and thin. I became most aware of this back when my heart dog, K, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma on Christmas Eve, 2011. She lived with cancer for 7 months before her journey ended, leaving me with a shattered heart.

In retrospect, the months of K's illness were some of the toughest, yet most love-filled, ones of my life. I knew that K wouldn't live a long time, and we seized every single day to find happiness and love with her.

In addition, Blogville did so many things to keep our spirits burning strong during that tragic, yet poignant, journey. There was the huge surprise of a day of posts dedicated to K on Valentine's Day, 2012 (there's a link to those posts in the right sidebar). I woke up that morning to discover many beautiful posts supporting and honoring K. I smiled and I cried as I read posts about K from all over the globe. The theme of many of the posts was "The Power of the Paw", and many featured a photo of K's paws that I'd taken just before her bone cancer diagnosis.

Then, Blogville did even more. You sent me a gorgeous painting of K, by Kathleen Coy, that is always featured in the upper right corner of my blog. In our home, it hangs above K's bed (also given to us by our Blogville friends - I am still overwhelmed by your generosity). I look into K's eyes in that painting every single day. Kathleen truly captured K's loving spirit.

This photo shows K's spirit that you helped me to celebrate despite my sadness - a happy and loving girl who was ready to play fetch on the day after she'd had intensive radiation to kill the bone tumor in her front leg. She lifted me up out of my sorrow with her irrepressible happiness and hope.

Here was K almost 7 months later, with a close friend who I met through Blogville (yet another gift from Blogville). That friend helped us through the last few days of K's life. She helped me to laugh and helped K to be silly despite the fact that we knew that we were in the last few days of K's life.

After K's death, a young and very sensitive dog, Shyla, joined our family. Since then, you've been so supportive as I've navigated the difficult world of helping her learn to cope with her fears. Your words of wisdom helped me through many days when I felt lost.

The great news is that Shyla has come out of her shell and, although she is still very sensitive, she can cope with most of life. I believe that she's very happy now.

Shyla is a new spirit, a unique soul, and I've come to love her like crazy. So has R.

Thank you, Blogville. The spirit that you represent is generous and kind - and I am so grateful that we are part of this group.

Happy Thanksgiving Blogville! K taught me to try to be thankful for each and every day. Today is special because we all join together in that thankfulness.