In Loving Memory 4 February 2011 – 27 February 2021

BLESSED

PSALM 103: 1-5

Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all my being, bless His holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits;

He pardons all your inequities,

He heals all your ills.

He redeems your life from destruction,

He crowns you with kindness and compassion,

He fills your life with good;

your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Bella was my world… 7 pounds of pure love and affection.  She was a beautiful spirit, accepting of strangers as if she had known them for a lifetime, yet she was fiercely protective of me at all times. Not only my constant companion, but my sweet Bella was also a little angel sent to introduce me to one of the most influential friendships since my father’s death in 2002.

After we have suffered losses in our lives, we often become introspective, looking inward for answers to long held questions.  With a family history of addiction, mental illness, trauma, and psychological abuse, I had many unresolved issues following the death of my father.  In many ways, my father was kind, loving, and generous.  Pops, whom I dearly love, had a gregarious personality and could be great fun to be around. However, if you did not comply with his wishes failing to do what he told you to do, he could be quite indifferent towards you to the extent of being sometimes unfeeling in his attitude and abusive with his words.  That left many scars on me personally resulting in two bouts with cancer since his death.  In 2003, I had Thyroid Cancer resulting in chronic hypothyroidism from a thyroidectomy which fortunately is a manageable situation that I can live with for many years to come.  However, in 2010, there could have been a completely different outcome to my Ovarian Cancer diagnosis.  The tumor I was carrying around grew to be 22 pounds before it was discovered that I had Ovarian Cancer after having complained of the same symptoms to my doctors for over 2 years: bloating; constipation; feeling full quickly at mealtime despite consuming very little food; lower back pain; and pressure in the pelvic area.  My OB/GYN at that time said that my ovaries were “pooping out” and my Endocrinologist saw those symptoms as vague relating to a multitude of health issues.  Ironically, my father would repeatedly say that I would not have treated my brother on drugs with “tough love” the way I did if he had had cancer and neither of them lived to see me go through cancer twice.  Today, I am blessed to say that I am over 10 years clear of Ovarian Cancer, but it was indeed a rough road at first.

The Lord blessed me by sending this little angel into my life on April 2, 2011, on the night of Mom’s 81st birthday.  Bella was an 8-week-old Yorkie weighing only 2 pounds who won our hearts over immediately. She helped me recover from chemotherapy and subsequent abdominal hernia surgery.  Bella has also assisted me to where I am today with generalized anxiety and a major depressive disorder in addition to inattentive ADHD.  Ultimately, Bella would introduce me to one of the most influential people of my life: Mr. Calvin “Cal” Moret.

Mr. Cal, as he would become affectionately known to me in a fatherly way, was a genteel Creole man who lived two doors over from us with his loving wife, Mrs. Berenice.  He frequently worked either in his woodshop on all sorts of projects or in his yard when Bella and I would go out for walks.  Bella would always find him to tell him hello and we would begin conversing.  He was a most interesting man, like a Renaissance man with a host of talents and expertise.  Mr. Cal, in his younger years during World War II, had served as a training officer for the Tuskegee Airmen, an accomplishment that had gone completely unacknowledged until his sunset years when President Obama awarded the Tuskegee Airmen the Congressional Medal of Honor in 2007.  Throughout his life, Mr. Cal perfected his woodworking skills, writing skills, and was a member of a Barbershop Quartet in addition to many select Creole social organizations.  After Katrina had decimated Moret Press, his family business, leaving him feeling much like a shell of his former self, his faith in the Lord and the recognition he received for his service in World War II ignited a new purpose in his life: delivering inspirational talks to students and young professionals on the importance of keeping the focus of God, family, morality, human dignity, and respect in their lives.  My many long conversations with Mr. Cal helped him develop the focus of his talks and he unknowingly aided me in resolving many of the issues I had with my father.  I knew deep down inside that these issues needed to be resolved or they would only continue to be burdensome to me not my father.  When we lost Mr. Cal, I continued to enjoy my friendship with his wife, Mrs. B, until her death this year.  I will always treasure my memories of Mrs. B and Mr. Cal.  Bella will forever be tied to these cherished memories.

Sadly, I had to put Bella to eternal rest on February 27, 2021, because she was going into kidney failure.  She had developed diabetes and Cushing’s Disease of the pituitary gland becoming increasingly sick.  I did not want to see her suffer any longer than she already had, but if love alone could have saved her from what she had already been through, Bella would have never suffered a day in her life.  Mrs. B went into kidney failure from hyperglycemia as well and passed into eternal rest on July 7, 2021.  My relationship with the Mr. and Mrs. Moret went full circle within 130 days of the 3,619 days Bella was such an integral part of my life.  When I lost Bella, I did not know how I was going to move forward.  It is my faith in the Lord, my devotion to the Blessed Mother, and my appreciation for all the gifts He has given me that gets me through each day with courage!  There will be no other Bella, but Bella’s journey has fortified in me that I have an enormous capacity to love and be loved. I feel Bella still watching over me!

COURAGE

DEUTERONOMY 31:6

Be brave and steadfast; have no fear or

dread of them, for it is the Lord, your God, who

marches with you; He will never fail you

or forsake you.

LAGNIAPPE: Greet each day with gratitude in your heart, a smile on your face, and kindness for others.  Live each day enthusiastically, with passion!