Mama Always ~ L.A. Brown, Author

It has definitely been a banner year for me, well, me, Chris and Andrea. We came off of 2011 with the loss of our beloved Aussie, Draco in November to foster a soldier's dog in January. Angel was not allowed to go home to Korea (where she was born) with her family who was being relocated there because she lacked a blood titer. We fostered her for two and a half months, getting her the necessary titer and shots; getting the proper sized kennel and finally getting the necessary passage and escort to get home. We could not have done it without the help of many friends and their friends and of course, United Airlines who waived the normal fees to get her home to her soldier and family. My many thanks to Sandra, Janet, Christopher, the Air Race family, James Bear Branch Animal Hospital and Home Again for getting her back to her family. I am sure that there were so many, many more who were in the background that helped with this endeavor, God knows who you are and I'm sure that He ...

..I learned in the last month. The month of May has been, hands down, the most  difficult month that I think that I've ever experienced. Being away from home and hearth, health problems on both sides of the family and that great equalizer, death being a huge part of the month...yeah, I'm over it. The month of May was pretty much the wind down for me and my travelling the world. I was able to stay with my Mom while she had her back surgery and then some of the recovery time, which was a good thing. Dad was able to keep working so he didn't lose any time at all really. I was able to help Mom out with the things that she normally would be able to do for herself, and helped her to keep track of the medication that made her a bit loopy and a tad forgetful. This was a good thing, but a little bit stressful, so bring on a flare up. Nothing to write home about and pretty much controllable with Advil, but flareup nonetheless. The end of April and the beginning of May also brough...

Let me tell you, they have not been entirely pleasant, either. Of course, there is the fact that I got to go overseas for the first time in my life to Okinawa to see my newborn granddaughter and my oldest granddaughter. That was amazing and I am totally in love....until the oldest started crying uncontrollably...then it was time for Grandma to beat feet, my baby Girl and Son-in-law were awesome, but beat feet I needed to do. Of course, the fact that my visit was over with anyway really wasn't the issue, I needed to get home to get Andrea. I left Andrea in Arizona to stay with mom and dad for basically two reasons: she doesn't have her passport yet and the Kid's apartment was pretty much too small for all of us as it was, add in Andrea and tempers might have flared, especially with a newborn at the helm. Pretty much it was OK for her, she was a help to mom who was having major troubles with her back, and she got to spend time with the Grandparents. I love my folks, they wo...