Blessings and Challenges

Happy that I can still do the splits.

My late husband often said, "No one said it was going to be easy." And as I review my long life I can view it as a part I have been playing on this stage of life. I have had great blessings and many challenges, as we all do.

Saturday August 13, I celebrated my 82nd birthday in Mexico City with my youngest daughter, Cynthia Hamilton. We both love that huge city and all the art and culture it has to offer.

The Tamayo Museum is the place the place we usually start. We took our first Uber ride from our hotel in Col Roma .
The day was wonderful. I talked to my other 2 daughters via Skype and cell phone, ate and drank well and felt completely fulfilled.

We returned to San Miguel Sunday night and our dogs came back from their vacation with their favorite person, Janet Krem. Janet is a dear friend and an angel who has a wonderful animal boarding center. She brought our happy dogs back Monday afternoon and by Tuesday our 8 month old puppy must have eaten something poisonous on the Monday evening walk around our community. She became more and more ill and has been at the animal hospital for a week, hanging on by a thread.

I raised my 3 daughters alone and had many a crisis, broken bones, deep cuts requiring stitches, the baby poisoned with ant poison; several times little stomachs had to be pumped; the death of my mother, the brain tumor of my husband... I had 18 hours to leave our home in Spain, find house sitters, get plane tickets and get him to New York where he died 5 months later. So when I felt that the puppy, Sasha, was dying in my arms, I completely lost it, sobbing and shaking. Fortunately, Cynthia kept herself together and got the pup to the emergency vet. I won't describe what a roller coaster ride this week has been, just that I realized that this was the first time in my life I couldn't take charge and everything must have caught up and all my emotions overflowed.

These photos are from Mexico City and the last one is in the pet hospital

First stop, the Tamayo Museum. Our favorite spot. This is outside where the happy dogs played in the wate

Col. Roma

The Buffet at Delirio

Cynthia on the stairs of the huge bookstore

A loaf of bread; a jug of wine

Walking around Col Roma. There is always something new to discover.

How did everyone know it was my birthday?

tapas in the hotel room after the museums

dinner in our favorite restaurant, Casa Virginia, Col Roma

A vegetarians' delight - plenty of meat dishes for others

Contentment

back in the room for chocolate torte, champagne, flowers and a gift. All arranged by Cynthia.

Fun, fun, fun

Sasha looks like a starving street dog after not being able to eat for 10 days. She is receiving medication including vitamins, antibiotics and was force fed today. She stood up to greet me today, walked out of her cage and put her head on my shoulder. The vet thinks she may make it.