Change Of Plans

We’ve left the farm now, and moved back to the other house while we fix up the bus for our next road trip. More information on the upgrades soon.

 

Anyone who follows me on Twitter will probably know that I’m a pretty big fan of the TV show “Supernatural.” So when we found out that the two main actors, Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, were coming to a convention in Australia for only the second time since the show first aired in 2005, it was a big deal. So the next day, when our money came through, we booked our tickets to AHBL6 in Sydney on May 24th.

 

So, for the first time in six years we will not be at the Gympie Show. We’ve been feeling unwelcome there for a couple of years now, and the judge of the High Jump treats us pretty badly – only giving us one try while the others get three, and letting other competitors through to the next round when they failed all three tries whereas we get kicked out for “helping” our dogs up. So anyway, we missed the Blayney Show too, because we were still working at the farm. Instead we’ll be competing at the Walgett Show on May 9, pretty much exactly two months from now.

 

Some more photos from our time on the farm:

Always Keep Fighting

It's been a long road. Four years since the worst day of my life, and sometimes, especially near the anniversary, I still find myself lost in the memories.

Even during the "good" months, there are bad days, when the past seems too close and everything is a reminder. Those days the only thing keeping me in the present is Sparkie.

Most of you won't understand. You won't get how important Sparkie is. You might think it's unhealthy to rely on a dog so much, worry that I'm not dealing with my grief "properly." But you weren't there in my darkest hours. You never saw the moments I felt like giving up, unable to find solid ground. You didn't see my pain, didn't see me guilty and grieving and wandering through the weeks in a fog. But Sparkie did.

 

 

Sparkie's a service dog for my Asperger's Syndrome/High Functioning Autism, but she also helps with the effects of what happened on 12 March 2011.

Wherever I go now, Sparkie is with me. Whenever the memories overwhelm me, she is there. It doesn't matter if I'm in an office ten stories up in the middle of Melbourne's CBD, she will be right there to pull me back to the present. On long nights when sleep is hard to find, Sparkie lies next to me like a barrier against the nightmares. She gives me a reason to get up each morning, to keep moving forward.

I don't think the memories will ever stop hurting, but Sparkie is always there to remind me I'm not alone. I would not be here today if it wasn't for her.