Better late than never...(I just couldn't do this before now).
A Huge Thank You from The Reed Family!
We need to thank everyone who sent us Christmas cards. My wife, Jeannie, has Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Starting near the end of October, she has had several “attacks,” which have impacted her (and the rest of us) greatly. I really don’t want to go into detail here, Jean asked me not to. Suffice it to say she was in and out of hospital three times, and needed a great deal of care when she was home. She has the type of MS called “relapsing/remitting/progressive.” It basically means she has attacks (for instance, she lost all sight in her left eye), but over time, she regains whatever function she lost. The progressive part comes in because she only regains a portion of whichever function. Including the recent attacks, she mostly regains 80% or more functionality.
November was really bad, the worst of her life so far. Obviously, taking care of her was/is my top priority, which is why I haven’t been around the site much. More to the point, it’s why there was no way I could do the Basset Christmas Card exchange. I’m really sorry about that, I very much wanted to. Particularly in light of what happened with all the cards we received.
There are no words to express how much those cards meant, and to many more people than any of you imagined. They started coming in during one of Jeannie’s hospital stays. I took the cards to her, and boy I was surprised! As you can imagine, Jeannie was pretty depressed with all of her health problems and being stuck in the hospital. She knew about the card exchange, but had forgotten about it, not surprisingly. When I brought her the first few cards we got, her face lit up, and I saw the first real smile on her face for weeks! She cried some, but they were Tears of Joy! I knew she missed our dogs, Dudley & Minnie, but had no idea that such a simple thing as some Basset Christmas cards would lift her spirits so! She was there for another two weeks and I took her the cards that came in every day, she loved them all. Soon, we made a Christmas tree-shaped mural of them on the wall, and word started spreading. All the nurses on her floor loved the cards, they would look for me each day, clamoring to see the next batch of cards! Basset Happiness was spreading! If this were the end of the story, it would still be great, but there’s more.
Her last week or so in hospital, Jeannie was able to roll herself around in a wheelchair. On her same floor was the Children’s Cancer center. Jeannie is fantastic with kids, so she went over to see them. She was there one day when I came to visit, so I took her that day’s five or six cards. Not only did she love them, the kids did too! I was (and still am) in awe of this wonderful woman I’m lucky enough to call my wife. While being very sick herself, she took the time to think of others who were far less fortunate. Most of the kids absolutely Loved her visits with the cards. At first, she just showed all the cards to any kid that wanted to see them, and listened to their stories. Some of them had pets at home and they would talk about their dog, cat, hamster or whatever.
After 2 days of this, she asked me to make copies of all the cards, which I did. The next day, we gave out copies of YOUR cards to any little kid that wanted one. Jeannie even made up a little story for each kid about the card they received, how it was from this dog, just for them.
So long as I live and breathe, I will never forget the looks on many of their faces. Here they were, in the midst of a fight for their very lives, having their spirits lifted by such a simple thing as a Christmas Card from a Basset Hound (and their people).
Most of those kids will make it, some will not. Two have lost their fight already, Rest In Peace, little Kathy Miller, little Charles Stanley.
If I live a million years, I can never repay this. Mere Words are not enough.
Thank you, more than I can ever say, from Paul & Jeannie.
A Huge Thank You from The Reed Family!
We need to thank everyone who sent us Christmas cards. My wife, Jeannie, has Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Starting near the end of October, she has had several “attacks,” which have impacted her (and the rest of us) greatly. I really don’t want to go into detail here, Jean asked me not to. Suffice it to say she was in and out of hospital three times, and needed a great deal of care when she was home. She has the type of MS called “relapsing/remitting/progressive.” It basically means she has attacks (for instance, she lost all sight in her left eye), but over time, she regains whatever function she lost. The progressive part comes in because she only regains a portion of whichever function. Including the recent attacks, she mostly regains 80% or more functionality.
November was really bad, the worst of her life so far. Obviously, taking care of her was/is my top priority, which is why I haven’t been around the site much. More to the point, it’s why there was no way I could do the Basset Christmas Card exchange. I’m really sorry about that, I very much wanted to. Particularly in light of what happened with all the cards we received.
There are no words to express how much those cards meant, and to many more people than any of you imagined. They started coming in during one of Jeannie’s hospital stays. I took the cards to her, and boy I was surprised! As you can imagine, Jeannie was pretty depressed with all of her health problems and being stuck in the hospital. She knew about the card exchange, but had forgotten about it, not surprisingly. When I brought her the first few cards we got, her face lit up, and I saw the first real smile on her face for weeks! She cried some, but they were Tears of Joy! I knew she missed our dogs, Dudley & Minnie, but had no idea that such a simple thing as some Basset Christmas cards would lift her spirits so! She was there for another two weeks and I took her the cards that came in every day, she loved them all. Soon, we made a Christmas tree-shaped mural of them on the wall, and word started spreading. All the nurses on her floor loved the cards, they would look for me each day, clamoring to see the next batch of cards! Basset Happiness was spreading! If this were the end of the story, it would still be great, but there’s more.
Her last week or so in hospital, Jeannie was able to roll herself around in a wheelchair. On her same floor was the Children’s Cancer center. Jeannie is fantastic with kids, so she went over to see them. She was there one day when I came to visit, so I took her that day’s five or six cards. Not only did she love them, the kids did too! I was (and still am) in awe of this wonderful woman I’m lucky enough to call my wife. While being very sick herself, she took the time to think of others who were far less fortunate. Most of the kids absolutely Loved her visits with the cards. At first, she just showed all the cards to any kid that wanted to see them, and listened to their stories. Some of them had pets at home and they would talk about their dog, cat, hamster or whatever.
After 2 days of this, she asked me to make copies of all the cards, which I did. The next day, we gave out copies of YOUR cards to any little kid that wanted one. Jeannie even made up a little story for each kid about the card they received, how it was from this dog, just for them.
So long as I live and breathe, I will never forget the looks on many of their faces. Here they were, in the midst of a fight for their very lives, having their spirits lifted by such a simple thing as a Christmas Card from a Basset Hound (and their people).
Most of those kids will make it, some will not. Two have lost their fight already, Rest In Peace, little Kathy Miller, little Charles Stanley.
If I live a million years, I can never repay this. Mere Words are not enough.
Thank you, more than I can ever say, from Paul & Jeannie.
