I am so sorry to hear that you have had recent losses as well. Knowing your gentle spirit, I am sure that both friends and pups were family members of choice. Sometimes people don't really acknowledge that death of a member of your family of choice is often harder than a death of a member of your family of origin. I hope that during this time you allow others to comfort you and infuse you with love while your heart mends.

I didn't really believe that my heart would mend and that I would be able to come out of the fog I was in. But as spring begins, I feel the fog transforming into a mist. The mist is all around me but I am beginning to see that there is something on the other side. As the world is turning away from the grays of winter and toward the colors of spring, I feel comfort.

I forgot to tell you the other part of the Defying Gravity story. My brother and I grew up in Kansas. We both knew there was something better for us in the world and worked hard to have a different life. He was a nationally known scholar who studied diversity on college campuses and I work in HIV/AIDS planning on the state and national level. So "no wizard that there ever was" was going to bring us down. I'll keep looking toward the western sky to catch a glimpse of him....

Take care of yourself and thanks for writing back.