Mad Monnie Love

GRATEFUL GIRL'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
It's Monnie's 6th birthday today. She is an adorable brunette with big dark eyes, the bubbliest personality you'll ever encounter and by far, the best hugger I have ever met in my entire life ... well, the best canine hugger, anyway.

Monnie is our Boxer. She is a 75-pound lap dog (at least she thinks so) who hates the vacuum cleaner, thinks she can chase squirrels up trees and believes that fireworks and the smoke alarm are two of the signs of the Apocalypse. #poorlittlethinghatesloudnoises

Monnie Kimerer is as much a part of our family as the other three of us. We love her unequivocally, unconditionally and protectively. As in, if your dog comes at mine when I'm walking her bruh, look out because I will take him down, no exceptions. Ahem. Even when she eats my favorite scarf or the TV remote or the turkey sandwich I was about to pack in Kyle's lunch but that I foolishly left just a hair to close to the edge of the counter; we still adore her.

Which is why the thought of losing her is almost unbearable. Yet, the likelihood is very real that we will outlive our beloved Monica (though hopefully she's the first Boxer to live to be 249). And as we did with Schultzy, Courtney and Max, our pups preceding "The Monster," we will mourn her as our family member ... never quite getting over the loss. The point is this: loving someone, whether they walk on two legs or four legs or have feathers or scales or crazy brown hair that frizzes up in the humidity is always the right answer. Sure -- giving love away is  risky because someday you will have to say goodbye...at least here on planet Earth. #lifeisshort

But that doesn't mean you should stop offering your heart to those who deserve it.  It just means we should always remember that life is fragile and precious and a blessing from day one. Be sure to let your peeps know how you feel about them every single day; even the ones who drink from the toilet. Happy Birthday, Monnie! 

Jn 6:63c, 68c - Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life. Mt 5:17-19 - Jesus said to his disciples: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven."