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My husband. Roy and I, along with our
Airedale, Anabelle, live in Troutdale,
Oregon. It's a little town about 20 miles
east of Portland on the Columbia River
Gorge. We've both lived in the Portland
area all of our lives. It's a beautiful
part of the country.
I've been a contributor to the annual
Airedale Quilt Raffle since its beginning in
1999. Anabelle is our third Airedale. She,
along with Bonnie and Beau, now at the
Rainbow Bridge, have been an inspiration to
me. There's no end to the entertainment
when you share your life with an Airedale.
Our grandchildren have grown up with
Airedales being an important part of their
lives. Jordan, our oldest grandson is now
nine years-old. He is very close to
Anabelle,, as they are nearly the same age.
Jordan used to love having me tell him
stories of the Adventures of Beau and
Anabelle. He now enjoys writing his own
Airedale adventures.
A year ago in October, Anabelle was
diagnosed with Lymphoma. She underwent six
months of chemotheraphy. The oncologist
told us there's no cure for Canine
Lymphoma. She said they hope for
remission. Though the chemo was difficult,
Anabelle proved what a brave Airedale
is all about. She is happy and enjoys her
daily walks and spending time with our
family. Last summer, my grandson Jude asked
me to make him a super hero cape. I ended
up making capes for three of my
grandchildren and one for Anabelle too. How
could I leave her out? She
is the greatest super hero I know. A
couple of months ago, Anabelle wore her cape
in for her monthly visit to the oncologist.
Her doctor thought her cape was wonderful.
In fact, she took a photo of Super Anabelle
in her cape to
use in a presentation to colleagues. I
think Anabelle's very fortunate to have a
doctor who cares so much. It's meant so
much to us too.
We consider every day spent with her to be a
blessing.
This year's block is a tribute to the three
billy goat's gruff. I have always loved
that Fairy Tale. When my grandchildren were
visiting awhile back, they saw my drawing
for the quilt block. I told them the story
with the three Airedale gruffs. Jude (age
5) and Maya (age 3) spent the morning
play-acting the story. They loved
pretending to be Airedales -- barking at the
mean-old troll. It's so great that they've
learned how special it is to share their
lives with dogs. We are so very lucky.
(The photo is of Jordan and
Jude at the beach with Anabelle in their
super hero capes.) |
