Catching Up - Wilt Wedding MPLS

I didn't get a chance to write about our trip to the Twin Cities for the Wilt Wedding May 5th. Last week I got distracted by Odie. Over 300 people read my Odie blog. I know you are all animal lovers - hug your pets and support those animal causes. I sure miss her. It's been lonely around our house.

I do want to share this important and happy event with my blog readers.

We had a fantastic trip up north, the weekend of May 5th. We started with a night in our fave MN town, Northfield. Thanks to Vicki (my college roomie) and Fred Behr for inviting us. Since our drive took us right by Owatonna of course, we had to stop at Paul's fave shopping place - Cabela's.

He was on a mission to purchase a meat smoker, and he had gift cards (60th birthday gift) in hand, plus cash credits from our charge card. Woohoo! I had plenty of time to check out the store while he learned all about smokers from not one, but two different salesmen. I decided against purchasing someone else's returned shoes (eeew) in the bargain department. Paul settled on an electric smoker with wood chips. We hope to try it out this weekend.

We got to Northfield about 6:30 p.m. just in time for a beer with our hosts, Vicki and Fred. It was a gorgeous evening and we decided to head downtown to a brewpub that we'd visited last summer when Lauren Behr got married. The place was busy and we stood outside sipping our beverages. Students from St. Olaf University (Fred's employer) kept driving by with a float, waving at us. Later, Fred grilled burgers back at their place and we sat up and laughed and talked - catching up.

Talking to Vic is always like stepping back in time. We got to know each other first at the tender age of 18, as friends at Iowa State University. Karma put us on the same dormitory floor - I hit the jackpot there! A lifetime friendship flourished. As an introvert who didn't know much about making new friends, cooking and traveling, I hitched my wagon to a great person in Vic. She is good at all that stuff. And she is willing to try lots of things - something I've always been leery of. I don't know what she got out of the friendship? My snarky sense of humor that matched hers? A listening ear? My college education was richer because of friends like Vic.

When you live together like we did for three years, you get to know each other so well. We became more than friends. We know about each other's high school friends, relatives, and life stories. It's like we're sisters. When we get back together, the years melt away. Our husbands, Fred and Paul play along when we get together. We do talk about other stuff. The kids, current events, future trips. We're thinking about a trip next summer with the Behrs and Wilts. Old friends are good!

Saturday we shopped a bit in downtown Northfield, then ate lunch at our fave deli there. On our way to Minneapolis for the 5 PM wedding, we decided to stop just south of the cities for a Cinco de Mayo margarita. We sat outdoors, listening to a musician on a beautiful spring day. Life is good!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! 

Paul and I checked into the hotel to get ready for the nuptials. Bride Jaime Wilt (now Opthof), is the daughter of our good friends Steve (Moose) and Kay Wilt. I've known Moose about as long as I've known Vicki. We've known Jaime all of her life! My first memory of her was a vacation when Behrs, Wilts and Goldsmiths went to Bemidji, MN in early June. Miss Jaime was just a few months old. We've enjoyed watching her and later lil sis Alyssa grow up through the years.

We met her husband Mike when they started dating as students at the U. of Minnesota several years ago. We've been so glad that we've been able to hang out with them several times - what nice peeps! Mike's parents are originally from the Netherlands but have lived in the US for years, raising their two children here. He's a guy anyone would love to add to their family.

A father's last words of wisdom? 

The wedding was at a cool venue, a former police station in Midtown. The ceremony was upstairs. It was touching, beautiful and simple. The couple looked elegant. Weddings reveal a great deal about each couple. Jaime and Mike enjoy beer and they found a way to include their favorite beverage in the ceremony. It's cool that traditions while keeping some of the same things from the past, are adding in new touches.

Post dancing now-married couple

After the ceremony we all went downstairs for drinks while upstairs was set up for a family style meal and dance. Ann and Steve Hauser sat with us for the meal. They are college pals who also live in the Twin Cities. We also sat with the Wilt's Gurnee, IL (hometown friends). It was interesting to get to know the people they talk about (in a good way) when we get together.

Fred and Vic's daughters Kelli and Lauren attended the wedding with their spouses Toby and Patrick. The Behr girls spent a lot of vacation time with the Wilts through the years. The star of the show was Kelli/Toby's little guy Teddy who at age 20 monthsish, is speedy! He headed for the kitchen, taunting his father who worked up a sweat keeping up with him.

We had a blast dancing the night away. Yes, they did play Love Shack. Moose, Kay, and Maid of Honor, sister/daughter Alyssa looked to be having a ball. We all enjoyed celebrating with the happy couple! There is nothing better than being with loved ones for life's happy events. Congratualtions to the Wilts and Opthofs for raising two great children and a heck of a wedding.

Gone Girl

She was a very good girl. And now she's gone. It's a cruel twist that the length of pets lives does not match our own.

Odie Pearl was just over 13 years, 3 months old when she "crossed the Rainbow Bridge", as they say. It does sound much nicer than died. She was suffering from heart failure, diagnosed in January. Medication had held off symptoms fairly well for four months - but this past week she'd lost her appetite, She started wheezing and coughing - indicating end stages of the disease.

I spent a long week tormenting myself over a difficult decision. I must admit I didn't get much sleep, getting up with her, massaging her chest as she coughed and wheezed. Somehow Paul slept through much of it. I could have taken her back into Dr. Merk for a tweak of her meds - but then ultimately we would have been at this same place again, only Odie may have slid even further down in health after not eating.

That last night I wept silently in my bed as Odie (in between coughing and wheezing) and Paul slept. Then I got up and sat in my chair, researching topics euthanasia and canine heart disease. I cried some more. I determined I did not want Odie to suffer from this disease just so I could enjoy her company longer.

When Paul got up at 5 a.m., I talked it over with him. I was still waffling. It was morning - things would be okay, right? But I thought back on my nighttime angst. I knew more of those nights could be in store with this illness. I let Odie out to go potty and her coughing returned. I knew it was the right decision. A painful decision.

Odie sat quietly on my lap on the way to the Specialty Clinic at 6 a.m. It was quiet there. They were very helpful. It was where Odie was first diagnosed. They will notify our regular vet about her passing, so they quit sending notices. In addition, Odie's ashes will be shipped to our regular clinic.

The procedure itself was very peaceful. Odie had an IV port inserted and she was a little nervous when she came back from that. The veterinarian came in next. He turned out to be a guy we knew from Amy's volleyball days - when she played with a traveling team from Corning. He put a shot of something in the port to make her sleep. It worked in about a minute. The next shot into the port stopped her heart in less than a minute. I cried. Paul hugged me.

Ever since Odie was diagnosed with this serious illness I have tried to drink her in. Her soft, soft ears and warm brown eyes. The way she would bop her nose into my calf and lick it when I came home. Odie's huge appreciation of people food. She loved raw carrots and I loved the way she crunched them. If I didn't feed her quickly enough she would whine insistently. I won't always miss that. I'll miss the way she burrowed under the covers at night - nestling against my calves early. Later we'd wake up and she'd be between us like a third person.

Odie loved treats!

Odie was a "people" dog. She especially loved ladies - like all of my Creston gang, Diana, Bobbie, and Deb. We moved from Creston over five years ago, but she still remembered them and would make a big deal about those gals.

Of course, she loved her sibs - Amy (Sissy) and Jud (Juddy). She called them the names in parentheses. When I'd say, "Juddy's coming", she'd sit staring at the door until he showed up. She loved taking naps with Sissy on the couch. It's hard to believe Jud was a sophomore in High School when we got Odie. Now Jud & Kara, Amy & Corey each have two dogs. It brings me great joy to know that my love of dogs is being carried on by my kids.

Though Odie was my dog, she had a special relationship with her daddy, Paul. Paul has never been a "pet" guy. He's a farm kid. They had pets - but easy come, easy go. Paul is very understanding of my commitment to our pets, and has gotten "sucked in" to loving them too. Every night Odie would sit by Paul's chair and gaze at him. He's pat his lap for her to jump up and get a nice petting massage. She loved it! He took good care of her.

While Odie loved people, she was not wild about her dog relatives. It's my fault - I didn't socialize her with dogs when she was young. She did learn to tolerate Gidget, the boxer owned by Leslee who provided care when we went out of town. We were lucky that we had Lila and Bill when we lived in Creston and Leslee and family here in WDM.

Our house is going to seem pretty empty. No greeter when we get home. I won't need to save tidbits of food from my supper - to share with the tiny hungry hound. No more lingering in the yard while Odie sniffs every blade of grass. Nobody to talk to when I toast English Muffins on Fridays, asking, "Are you ready for the Muffin Man?". She always answered with her bright eyes, barely chewing, gulping the food. There was little she didn't like. 

Odie's ashes will be stored in a special place with Moki. Two good dogs. They are loved. RIP Odie Pearl. A good girl.