Archive for the ‘Celebrations of Life’ Category

Wiggles Blue Heeler shed his worn-out blue heeler earthly trappings December 5, and he was truly ready, thanking me and the two young vets who helped him, by giving us kisses. I thought I’d lose him two days earlier, but he gifted me with 48 more precious hours, giving even as his life was ebbing, showering me with affectionate, consoling kisses.

It is not that I am less, now that he has shed this life, but rather that I am far more because Wiggles lived!

Looking around, there are reminders of him everywhere (as though I needed reminding!), but now I see and am consoled by the things he no longer needs, corners he needn’t fear bumping, and all those places he once trod at a light and lightning-swift pace — as a child’s book says, “Slow down, dingo dog; you are moving too fast!”

Wiggles taught me patience, unconditional love, gravity-defying exuberant joy at the smallest of things, how to see without the use of physical vision — because he always saw the world and everything in it, with his heart — and how to forgive crabbiness, because his person was afflicted with occasional bouts of frustration. I pray to grow in love — because of his teaching by example, every minute of his life — and make him proud of what his life created in me.

All the terms of endearment encircle me, just as his presence is so near and so warm, swaddling his mommy in comfort on this vividly blue-sky day in December. LittleFoot … Many Kisses … Punky Brewster … Dear, Sweet Heart … Punkin Munkin … PooCheeser … The Sweetest One … Wigglety Woo … My Little Wommie (his first name was Wiggles Wombat) … and so many, many more.

Thank you for your prayers for us, which have uplifted us and taken any sadness away. Silly me, thinking I’d be lonely without him. He’s still here, in a form that no longer suffers.

Blessings bestowed upon me and countless others by Wiggles Blue Heeler are replete with joyful events and now, rejoicing memories. When next we meet, I’m certain that we will know one another instantly, because we each carry the other in our hearts and souls!

Thank God that He chose me to be Wiggles’ person and chose Wiggles to be my dog of a lifetime. This is the best day of my life: Wiggles is no longer blind or sick. In fact, his incredibly warm and loving presence is in every nook and cranny of my heart and soul!

James and Linda King of West Jefferson are happy to announce the engagement of their daughter, Abigail May King, to Jason Michael Bendure, son of Stephen Bendure of Blacklick and Linda Bendure of New Port Richey, Fla.

Abigail May King and Jason Michael Bendure

The bride-to-be is a 2003 graduate of West Jefferson High School, a 2007 graduate of Capital University, and a 2010 graduate of Wright State Uni-versity with a Master’s degree in education, majoring in Educational Leadership. She is employed with the Logan Elm School District, as a second grade teacher.

The groom-to-be is a 1994 graduate of Reynoldsburg High School and is em-ployed with the Columbus Ohio Division of Fire.

A June 2011 beach wedding is planned in St. Pete Beach, Fla.

Bob Powers (in 2008) at the familiar London Country Club covered bridge

By Lynn Adams

If only we could all end our lives the way Bob Powers did Sunday (August 8), we probably wouldn’t be as apprehensive as most of us are. We may not all be the avid golfer Bob was, who strolled the golf course fairways of London Country Club for more than 70 years, but he was lucky enough to be doing what he loved at the end.

“Golf keeps me going. It’s something to look forward to,” Bob told me in May 2008. “I’ll golf as long as I’m alive.”

He was true to his words.

The end came while playing a Sunday afternoon round of golf, the sport he coached at London High School in the 1990s, the sport which earned him conference Coach of the Year honors three times, the sport he ruled from 1950-88 as a record 21-time London Country Club champion.

He was so proficient, he recorded four holes in one during his career, the last three coming since 1988.

A small plaque on a wooden bench at London Country Club is dedicated to Bob and says it all: “Thanks for the Memories.”