1 Year Blogiversary

Tags

Achievement, Anniversary, Blessed, Blogging Blogiversary Writing Thanks, Celebration, Gratitude, Labradoodle, Sight Loss, Writing

Here we are, 1 year on, 104 posts published and 1,148 followers on WordPress later. Befuddled is an understatement of how I feel when I think how this happened.

Like most starting out in the world of blogging I had no idea how it worked or how it would turn out but I have always loved a good challenge. I did wonder if writing about sight loss and life with a mischievous, attention seeking guide dog would provide enough prompts to keep the blog alive but I didn’t need to worry after all.

From the start, I have loved reading other bloggers posts and it still blows my mind how each blogger makes such an impact on my life and the lives of many others. Hearing everyday stories from bloggers around the world is far more informative than any news programme can ever tell me about the world. These talented bloggers speak about the true world that many know little about.

The name of this blog came about from living life in the sight loss world, that many in my life knew nothing or very little about. Over the year I have shared stories about little Minster Munch’s adventures and had beautiful comments left on the blog about his typical dog like behaviour that brings a smile to many a dog lovers face. Hearing the amusing stories of other dogs on writers blogs has left me feeling better about the perplexing and comical world of canine behaviour.

The support among bloggers by encouraging each other’s writing is an environment that has to be witnessed to be believed. Grammar police and trolls rarely exist but you can find enthuisiast of the written word and personal cheerleaders in abundance. These are the type of people you could spend all day chatting with and never run out of words.

Thank you so much to those who have continued to read my waffling words and been nothing but kind. Writing two blog posts a week keeps the spirit of writing alive. Never having suffered from writers block only writers diarrhoea, you are very patient people who deserve medals for your patience. Knowing that you want to read about a matching pair of odd socks in the world warms our hearts.

Thank you so much for the dedication you put into your own fascinating blogs. Google would be under threat if you all clubbed together to enlighten the world with your own areas of expertise. Each individual blog can read like a classic book that mesmirises the masses yet is a discovery waiting to be unearthed by that one important person who will make it famous.

With greatest of thanks for following our first year and we hope to share many more years with you. Much love from Munch and his maid.

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Everyday Earth Angels

Tags

Blessed, Earth Angels, Helpers, Kindness, Love, Thanks

The phone call that every parent dread arrived. “We are just waiting for the ambulance and he has been immobilized on the field as a precaution” his father calmly said. My son had a neck and back injury in rugby and they had stopped play. My accident-prone youngest son was no stranger to injuries and had called hospital his second home throughout his 15 years. This however sounded more serious than his usual mishaps.
Luckily a friend of mine was able to take me straight up to the rugby pitch 15 minutes away and I crossed my fingers that we would arrive in time for the ambulance. As soon as we arrived his father sent one of the players over to Munch and me to guide us to where he was on the field. We found my blurry outline of a son lying stretched out on the floor with the team’s physio holding his neck still to avoid further injury. Surrounding him was the coaches, some team mates and some concerned parents who had waited with him as they were concerned. The positive about having rugby loving people around you are that there will never be a dull moment as the banter keeps everyone’s spirits high, including my son’s. Nobody feels down on a rugby-players watch.

Attempting to make out which end was his head, and which was his feet, I finally found where his voice was coming from and kneeled beside him. Munch began whimpering and whining as he sensed something was wrong. As he attempted to go over to my son and lick him to health, his held him back and took him for a little walk as I stayed with my chilled-out son. Not even the pouring rain seemed to be bothering my son let alone the fact that pins and needles were spreading across his body. As everyone around him got more concerned during the 2 and a half hours the ambulance took to get to him, my son grew even more chilled out.

The kindness of those around him was so beautiful to witness as they brought him umbrellas to cover him, coats, a sleeping bag, hot water bottles and even a gazebo to put up over him. The physio from the opposing team stayed with him throughout and helped and took over from the team’s physio when she needed a break. Not once did anyone show anything but sheer compassion for my son and genuine concern for his well-being. If angels walked among us, this is what they would be like. The calmness and high spirits that passed between these kind souls kept my son in the belief that everything would be just fine. And it was.
After a neck brace and slide board transported my son by ambulance to the nearest hospital, all x rays showed that there were no fractures despite what was originally thought, luckily just soft tissue and muscular damage was caused alongside a slight knock in confidence on the field. As he waddled out of the hospital later that evening in pain, we all felt blessed that he was okay in comparison to how it could have turned out and feeling truly blessed that he has so many kind people around him that care for him.
Instead of going home for a Sunday roast or sneaking off for a quick pint, they choose to wait with him until the ambulance arrived and did not once moan.

Kindness is not something that has to be planned but something that happens naturally in times when nothing else would work. May each of these earth angels be blessed with nothing but kindness in their own lives as the world mirrors back what they give out. These true Earth Angels are the best.