The Dog Blog About "Ella"

May I present...Ella our new Boston Terrier

 We just got her today, isn’t she adorable?

We’d been thinking about getting a dog for a long time. When we lived in San Diego and Bend we made many trips to the animal shelters with no success trying to find the right kind of small dog that Jenny and I could both agree upon.

On Wednesday of last week I had to go to Long Beach, WA to get some plates for one of my vehicles and decide to stop by the South Pacific County Humane Society to see if they had any dogs the wife and I might be interested in. Thankfully and just by the Grace of God I just happened to walk into the shelter right after they opened their doors.

As it turns out 2 Boston Terriers had been surrendered late Tuesday Night right before the shelter closed to go home. Thankfully, I was the first person in the shelter that morning and immediately knew that Ella was the dog Jenny and I had been looking for so I claimed her that day. I knew I had to say yes right then and there or Ella would have been gone the same day, I'm sure of it. She was scheduled to get spaded on Thursday and the shelter said we could pick her up today.

First of all it's unbelievable to me that anyone would want to give up this sweet lovable dog and second it's amazing I was blessed enough to get a house trained year old pure breed Boston Terrier for just $65.

The South Pacific County Humane Society is a wonderful animal shelter. Come this Valentine’s Day we’ll have had Karma the Cat who we got at the same shelter for 2 years. She’s a terrific cat who really has brought Karma to our home.

Ella is the first dog I’ve had in my house full time since 1984. I guess I was due to get a dog. I’m so grateful and thankful that Long Beach has such a great shelter and that they have provided me with 2 wonderful pets. If you need a cat and dog I would always recommend that you go to your local animal shelter and look first.

Now all I have to do is find Ella a Broncos Sweater to wear so she can be indoctrinated into the family as a Broncos Fan.

I'm a Grateful Member of Al-Anon

(First of all you must know that Al-Anon is an anonymous fellowship so when you go to a meeting your anonymity will always be respected and protected. I've made the personal choice to speak about Al-Anon and reveal my identity. Please be aware that NO ONE is required to reveal their first or even last name should you ever attend a meeting. If you should decide to email me with questions about Al-Anon you have my word that I will keep any information you share with me strictly confidential.)

My Story

I'm starting my 4th year in Al-Anon this year. I feel and see the tremendous changes in my attitude and lifestyle almost every day as a result of this program. I could write a 500 page book on just how much it's helped me to make a paradigm shift in my thinking and start living a life that is much happier, peaceful and fulfilling.

The first Al-Anon meeting I attended was a Men's Adult Children of Alcoholics meeting in Sacramento, CA.

From the get go at that first meeting I was so completely amazed that a room full of 20 some guys could be so totally honest and open about how the disease of alcoholism had affected them and how they had spun the negatives out of their lives and replaced it with positives by using the 12 steps. I finally knew I was in exactly the right place at exactly the right time in my life and no, I wasn't the only person in this world who had these terrible personal defects and problems.

After being in the program a while I realized that the 12 steps are a great guideline to live by whether you're affected by alcoholism or not. They truly apply to almost any problem solving situation there is.

The 12 steps are great but one of the readings they opened the meeting with immediately shocked and surprised me in just how accurate the description was for Adult Children of Alcoholics but especially me. Somehow I thought maybe the group had done an investigation into my personal background and that the reading was directed at me personally. The reading, in 2 short pages described exactly how the disease of alcoholism had affected me and what my character defects were as a result and what the answer was to help me recover. It's a 2 part reading one being "The Problem" with the second being "The Solution."

I'm not sure where it originated but I thank who ever did write it and I thank the Higher Power for giving me the courage at long last to get myself to an Al-Anon meeting 4 years ago. The reading is short but powerful and just as intelligent in its simple descriptions. While this reading is directed at Adult Children of Alcoholics it really applies to anyone who has suffered from the disease of Alcoholism with a family member or friend.

I just want to thank all the wonderful men and women I've met in Al-Anon in Sacramento, CA, San Diego, CA, Bend, OR, Long Beach, WA and Astoria, OR. Each person I've met has contributed something to me individually and I'm so grateful that you've helped in my recovery.

Enjoy the readings and Godspeed.

"The Problem"

Many of us found that we had several characteristics in common as a result of being brought up in an alcoholic household.

We had come to feel isolated, uneasy with other people, especially authority figures. To protect ourselves, we became people pleasers even though we lost our own identities in the process. Personal criticism we perceived as a threat.

We either became alcoholics ourselves or married them or both. Failing that, we found another compulsive personality such as a workaholic to fulfill our sick need for abandonment.

We lived life from the standpoint of victims. Having an overdeveloped sense of responsibility, we preferred to be concerned with others rather than ourselves. We somehow got guilt feelings when we stood up for ourselves rather than giving into others. Thus, we became reactors rather than actors, letting others take the initiative.

We were dependent personalities, terrified of abandonment, willing to do almost anything to hold on to a relationship in order not to be abandoned emotionally. Yet we kept choosing insecure relationships that matched our childhood relationships with our alcoholic parents.

These symptoms of the family disease of alcoholism made us "Co-victims", those who take on the characteristics of the disease without necessarily ever taking a drink. We learned to stuff our feelings as children and keep them buried as adults. As a result of this conditioning we confused love and pity, tending to love those we could rescue. Even more self-defeating, we became addicted to excitement in all our affairs, preferring constant upset to workable relationships.

This is a description, not an indictment.

"The Solution"

The solution is to become your own loving parent.

By attending these meetings on a regular basis, you will come to see the effects of alcoholism for what they are: a disease that affected you as a child and continues to affect you as an adult. When you accept the concept of the disease, you will see your parents and yourself as co-victims. You will learn to keep the focus on yourself in the here and now, and free yourself from the shame and the blame that are hangovers from the past. You will take the responsibility for your own life and supply your own parenting.

You will not do this alone. Look around you, and you will see that other men and women know exactly how you feel. We know where you're coming from because we've been there. We will love and support you no matter what. We want you to accept us as Brothers and Sisters just as we already accept you.

We look now to our biological parents as the instruments of our existence. Our actually parent is a Higher Power that we call God. And if God gave us alcoholic parents, God also gave us The Al-Anon Twelve Steps of Recovery.

We use the Steps. We use the Slogans. We use the telephone. And we share our experience, strength, and hope with each other. This work enables us to heal our defects and sick thinking one day at a time. We release our parents from the responsibility for our actions today and thus become free to make healthy decisions as actors, not reactors.

This is a spiritual program based on action coming from love. We're sure that as the love grows inside of you, you'll see beautiful changes in all of your relationships, especially with your God, with your parents, and with yourself.

This is the Al-Anon web link if you have more questions about the program or want to find a meeting near you.