Friday the Thirteenth-- Unlucky for some, Lucky for others Fri. Oct 13 2023

I've always found Friday the Thirteenths to be the reverse of the myth-- usually lucky for me. Yesterday however, , Oct. 13th , I had to put to sleep my BFF (Best Furry Friend) Dickens after only 6 years (got him at 5 as a rescued Bavare Terrier from the Chatham Kent Animal Rescue in Ontario.) He succumbed finally at the age of 12, to congestive heart after successful treatment of epilepsy for years with CBD Oil Full Spectrum for Pets (the likeliest reason for giving him up in the first place--vet bills --which were practically nullified by the Oil treatment; so 'their' loss. )

Dickens was my 7th dog that I 'owned' myself (hate that word owned, should only be: 'lived with' ) As a single person mostly all my life, I've been indebted to the affections and companionships of all my pets -- domesticated and wild-- that always gave me great joy and 'grounding' in a complex word, their simple and giving natures always straight-arrowing to the 'heart' of things humans tend to overthink. He has now joined the ranks of 'Charlie's Angels' and although I will miss terribly the corporeal Dickens (as I do ALL of them), his ' spirit essence' is all around me , with the others I cherished. Relationships , human or otherwise, don't end at death if you don't want them to...

Loving animals as I have , all my life , it was a no brainer to incorporate them in Cameo roles in each of the Alaerton Alumni Mysteries , beginning with Volume 1 : REUNION through to Volume 3: THE MAPLE BLIGHT

(all on Amazon/Kindle ). In 2024, I hope to publish an eclectic Short Story Volume in which one of the non-fiction stories will reveal the true history and characters of the pets given literary cameo roles , that play such a part in the heroine's life (and mine of course.)

Stay tuned.