My Other Son.....Gone

Michael has had the same best friend through high school and then as a roommate at Penn State. His friend Dan has been the most loyal friend a guy could have. I always considered him another son and made sure he accompanied us on all of our family vacations. When I think of how Dan always addressed me, the only way I could remember is by him calling me Mom. He always said it laughingly but I know he considered me his second Mom.

These pictures were taken when we went to the Atlantis Hotel in the Bahamas. Both boys were under 21 at the time but definitely enjoyed all the fun they could have in the Bahamas where drinking and gambling were legal as long as you were over 18. This was one of my favorite vacations and one I won't forget.

Dan passed away yesterday in Florida at the age of 24. We're all devastated. I'm not going to get into the circumstances surrounding his death because it's unimportant. What's important is that I'll never see his face again or ever hear his voice. Another life cut short by this dreaded five letter word....death.

When I was growing up, I don't remember having to deal with the death of any friends yet, in Michael's short life, he seems to have faced so many. This, by far, is the worst though. The services will be held on Sunday morning and Michael will be a pallbearer carrying his friend one last time.

This picture was taken of Michael and Dan outside the Bellagio Hotel where we were all celebrating Michael's 21st birthday.....another most memorable vacation.

Dan, you can't imagine how much I'm going to miss your smiling face.

Love,

Your other Mom

Sunday's Walk

This isn't something I did (although I'd like to) but it's something Liz and Bryan did on Sunday in support of breast cancer research and in honor of those survivors and those who have died from this horrible disease before a cure could be found. Bryan's mother Darlene is one of these survivors and we all hope that she survives a very long time now that all of her treatment is finished.

She was recently visiting Liz and Bryan in early October and got to meet her new grandson Brady for the first time. Here's a picture of Liz, Darlene and Brady when they went to a pumpkin farm. She was here during the most beautiful time of the year in the Northeast which meant that they got to go on many great day trips to petting zoos, pumpkin farms and a lot of overall shopping. Brady slept through this trip but everyone else was awake to enjoy it.

Now getting back to the breast cancer walk. I feel compelled to write about it in honor of Darlene (who is an avid reader of this blog....along with all of her relatives) but even more compelled once I saw the picture of Brady all bundled up getting ready for the walk. When we were in London, Michael and Jenn had bought him his first pair of Ugg boots and he has these on with all of the rest of his paraphenalia. A discerning eye will also notice that Bryan (FSIL) put the right boot on the left foot and the left boot on the right foot....but who's noticing. And to think he makes fun of Belle!!!!

When I saw this picture and this outfit, I thought it was one of the cutest things I've ever seen. I know he's my grandchild but come on.......is he cute or what???? And to give the same coverage to two of my other favorite people, here's a picture of all three of them bundled up like they're about to enter the Iditarod.

So they ended up walking five miles along the boardwalk at Jones Beach. It got warmer as they started walking so the layers of clothing got to come off little by little. Of course, when they arrived home they were all exhausted but no one more exhausted than the king himself. Here he is after a hard day's walk in the cold. Since the walk took a few hours, he felt entitled to a few hours sleep without interruption. I don't have the pictures of Liz and Bryan sleeping after the walk although I'm sure this might have been the case. My hat's off to all three of you for doing this.

October 20, 2005

I always seem to be writing about the sad days in my life lately, so today I'm going to write about one of the happiest days. But, before you get too excited, this happy post will start with a bit of sadness.

Three years ago, on September 20th, we had to put our beloved border collie Sarah to sleep. Her legs had gotten so bad that she just couldn't move any longer. At this point, we had probably kept her alive three months longer than we should have but we just couldn't come to grips with letting her go. That morning, I tried to lift her to get her outside and she just looked at me and barked. She had never done this before and I knew at that moment she was telling me she just couldn't do it anymore. I immediately called the vet who said to bring her in right away and, in the next hour she was gone.


I remember telling my family that I didn't want another dog and not to surprise me with one either because there could be no dog in the world who could be as wonderful as Sarah. This lasted all of a week. I was so lonely without her and couldn't stand looking around my house and not seeing her there. By the end of that week, I made a visit to our local pound thinking I might find a dog who needed me. It was an unsuccessful visit. That same evening, I was on the Internet, and typed these words into Google....Border Collie Adoption.....and this is what came up.

Belle's Web Page

Hello I am Belle,a three year old Border Collie. I am spayed female. I am good with other dogs, however I am a little shy. It takes me a little time to warm up to people. My old family had too many dogs to spend much time with me. I am looking for a family and a big yard. Can you help a girl out who is down on her luck? Belle has a thick, full coat and will require frequent at-home grooming to keep her looking and feeling her best. She is an escape artist and will require a home with a secure fence OVER 4 feet in height. Belle is being fostered in Lebanon, PA. She has several applications in process already. Other applications will be considered if those do not work out. Please check out some of the other wonderful dogs at Castaway Critters!

This is what it should have said....

I am good with other dogs, however I am a little shy. It takes me a little time to warm up to people because I am used to them beating me. My old family hated me so they brought me to the pound so I could be put to sleep.

As soon as I saw this picture, I just knew I had to have her. And then reading the line that said, "Can you help a girl out who is down on her luck?".....of course I could. But little did I know that my wanting her and my getting her was not as easy as my just saying "yes". There were already a number of applications in for this dog. Mine would be just one of many. And each application included references. I found out later that one of my references told them that "if they believed in reincarnation, in their next life they wanted to come back as my dog." That comment certainly helped but wasn't enough to seal the deal.

I then decided to make a trip to Lebanon, PA to meet Belle. Just to make sure I covered all my bases, I brought two friends with me thinking that if the foster mother didn't like me, she would certainly like one of my friends. At one point, my girlfriend Pat told the lady to just give it up, put the dog in my car and let us leave because they couldn't live with me any longer if I didn't get this dog. Of course, she wouldn't do that so we drove home without Belle.

I have to admit to having some misgivings after this meeting. She was definitely socially inept and afraid of her own shadow. She had been so badly abused and it was going to take a lot to get her out of her shell. Also, her tail was broken so she would never be able to wag it. Someone had swung her around as a puppy and broke it......and then had the nerve to brag about it. I decided then and there that if it was meant to be, it would happen and I wouldn't pursue it any further just in case I ended up with a dog that couldn't fill Sarah's paws.

A week later, I received a phone call from someone who wanted to come to my home to see if it was suitable for the dog. This was something they did with all of the applicants. The woman sat at my kitchen table and filled out the form while I was sitting there. One of the questions was.....will the dog be happy there? She wrote out her response and read it to me after writing it. She said, "Not only would the dog be happy here, I also would like to move in." I think that was what sealed the deal. A week later they called me to tell me Belle was mine and the next day I drove to pick her up.

I'm not going to say the first few weeks or even months were easy because they weren't. This was a dog who was afraid of her own shadow. It was so sad. She wouldn't bark, wouldn't walk on the wood floor, wouldn't take food out of our hands......basically, she wouldn't do anything a normal dog would do. Apparently she had never been a pet. She had just been another dog on a farm that people didn't want. I called the pound she had come from after I got her and asked them if she had a name when she was dropped off. This was a pound in West Virginia. They said, "Yeah, she had a name. It was Dog." That told me all I needed to know. I also found out, during that call, that she was one day away from being euthanized when she was rescued.

Well, now it's three years later and Belle is still here. She now barks, still doesn't like to walk on wood floors, will definitely take anything we offer her from our hands and is basically the most lovable dog and clearly one of the most beautiful border collies I have every seen. She still has so many emotional scars from her former life and sometimes I look at her and just wonder what it had been like for her.

But now she lives in the lap of dog luxury and is loved by everyone in this family. Sarah had always been "my" dog. Belle is all of ours. We're so in tune to what she must have gone through that we all treat her with kid gloves and are very cognizant of her needs. The only one who likes to tease her is FSIL Bryan but he loves her just as much as we all do.

So on this, her three year anniversary with us, I'd like to thank Castaway Critters in Mechanicsburg, PA for rescuing Belle from the West Virginia pound. As the owner of this place told me afterwards, he was there to pick up two other dogs for rescue. He passed her cage and he said her eyes just looked at him and said, "please help me" and he did. I often wonder how a beautiful animal like this could ever have been put to sleep and I'm so thankful she was saved.

This is one of the many endearing things that Belle does. She crosses her paws when she is lying down. She's such a lady.

I look at every day with this dog as a miracle. She is beyond special to us. She is our Belle and, in the upcoming holiday months, will be referred to as "Jingle" Belle.

A Year Ago Today

It was a year ago today, October 17,2007, that we lost one of the most special people in my family......my cousin Madelyn. She passed away after a five year long battle with cancer and I would be remiss in not writing about her today.

Madelyn was the oldest of the girl cousins in my family, even though she was only 62 when she died. There were seven of us all born to the "Flay" girls....Viola, Dorothy, Madelyn and Margie. Madelyn was Viola's daughter and, as the oldest of us cousins, was really the matriarch of our family. It was Madelyn who organized everything and it was Madelyn who got everyone together. A year before she passed away, I had invited all of my cousins (male and female) to the shore for a fall weekend. This was the last time we would all be together. As I look back on that weekend, it was probably one of the most special times I've ever shared with the people I love. I'm so glad we got that opportunity for "one last good time." From those of us sitting in this picture, Madelyn is the fifth from the left.

I remember Madelyn being very tired that weekend but she always rallied and was right there with all of us cooking and playing games. The weather that weekend (November) was so beautiful and we even got to sit on the beach for a few hours. If there was one thing Madelyn loved, it was the beach. A few months before her passing, her four beautiful daughters, along with Madelyn's sister Debbie, took her on a vacation to the Bahamas. It was a girls' only vacation and all of the pictures show Madelyn looking in the best of health. It would be only a few months after that when she started to lose her battle.

She was, by far, one of the nicest and warmest people I have ever known. She was the female equivalent of my father.....always happy, always caring, always Madelyn. When I was at her funeral, her daughters wrote something about her in the Church booklet they handed out. I'd like to rewrite that here because I couldn't have said it better myself.

"Mere words could never justly describe the absolute wonder of being her daughters. Even the most seasoned writer could not detail the magical experience of walking through her front door, at any age, to be enveloped in the warmth of her ever-present smile and her loving arms. To us, home has always been where Mommy is.

Imagine, if you will, being raised by a woman who never raises her voice, who is never unhappy, who never lets her worries show... a woman who always encourages and never criticizes, who always puts you first and herself a distant last...a woman who will stay up all night to perfect a costume, to type a paper or to hold a hand and who, the very next morning, will still be your sunshine. Imagine the feeling of being raised by this woman, then multiply it by a hundred. Still, you are not even close.

Suffice it to say that we are the luckiest of all, for we are blessed with the honor of calling this woman our Mom."

And, suffice it to say that I felt lucky as well to be related to someone as wonderful as Madelyn. Perhaps she's now St. Madelyn in heaven because she certainly was a saint to all of us here on earth. We miss you so much!!!!

I'd like to share two other pictures with you. Since Madelyn's four girls were very young, each year she would include their picture on the front of her Christmas card. Once they were all married and had children of their own, she would take a picture of her and Mike with all their grandchildren. These were the last two I received. This is something I'll miss the most.

When I think of all the things I feel are unfair in this world, this is at the top of my list....that all of these beautiful grandchildren won't get to spend time with their wonderful grandmother.

Finally......"The Win"

I know you're all waiting for a report and it's going to take me another day to be able to blog fully about the experience but, here it is in a nutshell, and this is the headline that can be found on every poker site on the Internet.

EPT London Final Table: Michael Martin Captures Title

When we found out late on Saturday that he was going to make the final table, I hopped on a plane, along with his girlfriend Jenn and my friend Pat, and made it there two hours before it began on Sunday. Unfortunately Bob wasn't able to go but watched the entire thing on the Internet. First prize was 1,000,000 pounds which equates to a lot of "American dollars". Much more to follow.

On To Day Three

Day 2 has now been completed and Michael has made it on to Day 3. Out of the 596 players who began on Wednesday, 158 were left to begin Day 2 today. After 9 hours of play today, there are 32 players left and Michael is one of them. Of the 596 who started, only 56 would make it into the money so it's definitely another successful tournament for Michael as he's well into the money with 32 left in the field. This is a picture I found on the cardplayers.com site. I like it because it shows one of England's double decker buses right outside of the Victoria Casino where all the action is taking place this week.

He spent most of his day with some big time well known players at his table....Gus Hansen and Barry Greenstein to name a few. Here's a picture taken by the reporters at blonde poker of Michael and Gus. Unfortunately both Gus Hansen and Barry Greenstein got knocked out before hitting the cash.

Pat and I drove down to the shore today to look at a house she might be renting this summer. Michael was updating me with his progress all day by text messaging me his chip counts. Pat is such a huge poker fan and was so excited to be in on all of these updates. But while I'm satisfied to know that he's still in the tournament, Pat is interested in finding out every hand he played where he accumulated more chips. When she sees Michael in person, I think it would be her dream just to talk poker hands with him all day long.

He begins playing again at 1:30PM, which will be 8:30AM our time tomorrow. Of the 32 remaining players, he is in 14th place with 133,500 chips so he is in good shape. This is also tournament that I will be able to watch all day tomorrow online. I'm not sure if he'll be at the featured table (the one they'll be taping) but, even if he's not, he might get moved to that table sometime during the day. Here's hoping he makes it through Day 3 to go on to the Final Table action on Sunday. If any of my readers are interested in watching it, just go to Google, type in Pokerstars Blog and it will pull up the site where you can view it yourself. Enjoy!!!

The beginning of the 2008/2009 European Poker Tour season has just begun. Stops on the tour include Barcelona, London, Budapest, Warsaw, Prague, Bahamas, Deauville, Copenhagen, Dortmund, San Remo and Monte Carlo. Michael is presently in London playing at The Grosvenor Victoria Casino. It is a five day event with Day 1 being split into two separate days -- Day 1a and Day 1b. He just completed Day 1a and ended up as one of the chip leaders with 72,200 chips. Now he has a day off and returns on Friday for Day 2.

The beginning of this trip was not without any drama. He was to leave on Monday on a 9:00PM flight and planned on registering for Day 1B which would have taken place today, Thursday. Early in the day on Monday, he found out that the tournament was sold out. Apparently, this is a small casino and they had limited the entries to 500. There was a lot of back and forth calls to London all morning to see if there was any way he could get in. Apparently the big wigs at the casino met and decided to expand the cutoff. At that point, Michael was 105 on the waiting list and, as he boarded his plane that night, he still wasn't sure he would get in. He arrived in London at 9:30AM, dropped off his luggage and went straight to the casino to see if he could get into the tournament.

When he got there, the news was good and he was to be an alternate which means as people dropped out, he would get in. So after flying for 7 1/2 hours and waiting another two hours to get into the tournament, he finally got to play.....in the same clothes he had on since the night before. I don't know how he was able to focus because I know I would have been so tired at that point but he said he felt great. They ended up playing until about 1AM and it turned out to be a very successful day for him.

This is a picture of him taken by blonde poker....one of my favorite foreign poker sites. They have correspondents that report on all of the European events and they do such a great job.

He's been so successful playing in Europe and we're all hoping we get to see him at another final table. More news to follow after he plays again on Friday.