A Prayer of Peace

Ahnung at 'work'

A Prayer of Peace

May I become at all times, both now and forever
A protector for those without protection
A guide for those who have lost their way
A ship for those with oceans to cross
A bridge for those with rivers to cross
A sanctuary for those in danger
A lamp for those without light
A place of refuge for those who lack shelter
And a servant to all in need.

Dalai Lama

Note: It's been 6 months since Ahnung's cancer spread to her lungs. She has many nodules in her lungs with her largest tumor being 4 cm as of March. I am full of gratitude that my sweet girl continues to feel so great and full of life ... at this time she has no symptoms from her cancer and continues to touch hearts and heal wounded spirits .... she is an amazing spirit whose work is not yet done. Thank you nung-nung for continuing to be my north star, and the north star to so many .... Thank you for teaching us so much and for being such an inspiration. Love, your mom Marilou :)

Prayer to the Four Directions

Prayer to the Four Directions ... Chief Seattle

Great Spirit of Light, come to me out of the East (red) with the power of the rising sun. Let there be light in my words, let there be light on my path that I walk. Let me remember always that you give the gift of a new day. And never let me be burdened with sorrow by not starting over again.

Great Spirit of Love, come to me with the power of the North (white). Make me courageous when the cold wind falls upon me. Give me strength and endurance for everything that is harsh, everything that hurts, everything that makes me squint. Let me move through life ready to take what comes from the north.

Great Life-Giving Spirit, I face the West (black), the direction of sundown. Let me remember everyday that the moment will come when my sun will go down. Never let me forget that I must fade into you. Give me a beautiful color, give me a great sky for setting, so that when it is my time to meet you, I can come with glory.

Great Spirit of Creation, send me the warm and soothing winds from the South (yellow). Comfort me and caress me when I am tired and cold. Unfold me like the gentle breezes that unfold the leaves on the trees. As you give to all the earth your warm, moving wind, give to me, so that I may grow close to you in warmth. Man did not create the web of life, he is but a strand in it. Whatever man does to the web, he does to himself. 

Source: http://www.starstuffs.com/prayers/fourdirections.html

Ahnung's 2nd Celebration of Life party

Nung-nung had another Celebration of Life party yesterday, Sunday, April 7th ... mom arranged for us to have my big party at the exact same space as last year ... in the multi-purpose room of the Animal Humane Society in Golden ... and my auntie Merry, once again led the most beautiful healing prayer circle ... mom is gathering photos from that day and promised to make another video of the Celebration.

But nung-nung thought she would share a few photos from the celebration .... the beautiful, beautiful cake was a special surprise from my auntie Terri :) Nung-nung even got a few crumbs :)

The largest tumor in my lungs was 4 cm about a month ago, but I tell mom not to worry ... it's not bothering me and we will continue to take the exciting, peaceful, scenic route for my Final Walk :)

Auntie Terri cutting up my cake!!

Patiently waiting :) ...

And everyone wore one of my Legacy of Love pins :)

A good day for nung-nung

At Chuck & Don't with mom!!

Today I took my brother Legacy's place as co-pilot when mom had to go out for a meeting. And then we got to go to Chuck & Don's Pet Food Outlet .... we have an emergency situation at home: yes, yummy treats are at a dangerously low level. Treats have slipped below the red line on our treat jar and I have told mom over and over again that it can NOT slip below the red line!

So today I made sure mom took me to Chuck & Don's. I got lots of belly rubs from the staff at the Bloomington C&D and also some tasty yummy treats. I also made sure mom bought me some special new treats .... Stella & Chewy's Absolutely Rabbit Dinner freeze dried treats. She also got me a bag of the Duck Duck Goose Dinner but I told her nung-nung prefers the rabbit. But I'll eat the duck duck goose treats too :) She let me sample one of the rabbit treats on our ride home. Yummy, yummy.

Now I get to hang out in the backyard with my brother Legacy. I love to bask in the sunshine but I don't get why my brother has to sit on top of me!! Oh well ...

Hope you all have a wonderful day! The emergency crisis has been taken care of at our home. Treat supplies have been replenished so nung-nung can now nap and get her beauty sleep.

"Give me some yummy raw rabbit treats!!"

Co-pilot :)

A present from my friend Jaycee and her classmates!

The front page of the book of letters!

On January 14th I got to visit my friend Jaycee at her school and meet all of her classmates. It was such a fun day. If you haven't read that story you check on the blog post on it:

http://ahnung-northstar.blogspot.com/2013/01/ahnung-visits-her-friend-jaycees-school.html

After I left Jaycee and all of her classmates wrote me (and mom) thank you letters :) Jaycee put all the letters together in a nice book and mom just got it today! :) Wow ... such nice, sweet letters.

I told mom that I am going to post every single letter on my blog. I will post a letter every day beginning with Jaycee's letter :)

Since mom didn't get permission to post the group shot we took before mom and I left their class, I am having to block faces ... nung-nung doesn't want to get in any trouble :( But Jaycee says i can post whatever photos I want of her on my blog. I had so much fun that day and I am hoping that I can go back soon and visit them again. From their notes you'll soon see that they would like me to come back too! :)

Thank you Jaycee, Jaycee's teachers and all of your classmates for being such a wonderful group and for welcoming us to your class.

Therapy dog at work!

Waiting for the elevator

Today mom got an email from our volunteer coordinator at Allina Hospice. She wanted to know if we could go visit our friend in hospice. We of course said yes. Once I got to the facility, I was greeted by lots of people. The staff there is just so wonderful. They are always commenting on how pretty I am and how they love my tail. Mom is always telling people how my tail is always wagging. My friend in hospice calls my tail, the 'happy indicator.' Guess that means nung-nung is a very happy girl.

We had a nice visit. My friend wasn't feeling so well and was sleeping when we got there. That's okay. We hung out for a little while and I decided to sleep right by his bed. I told mom we need to go back on Sunday to visit my friend. She said okay :)

And last Sunday, nung-nung got to attend the Leech Lake Legacy Celebration party! It was a big success. Lots of people came even though the weather was bad and nung-nung got lots and lots of belly rubs. Don't tell mom, but I also got lots of treats ... who needs a vacuum cleaner when nung-nung can provide that service for free and it's top notch service. The best part of the afternoon was that my friend Jaycee also came to see me and she was wearing a really cool t-shirt! :)

We had a healing prayer circle again led by my friend Merry. She led my prayer circle in April, 2012 after my second cancer surgery. It's been 2 months since mom was told my cancer has spread to my lungs. Well .... I am still feeling great and LOVING my raw whole food diet. This morning I gave my little brother Legacy a run for his money! He couldn't even keep up with me ...

Resting by my friend's bedside in hospice

Okay, it didn't take me long to crash!! :)

Off to run some errands with mom!

With my friend Jaycee at the Leech Lake Legacy Celebration party!

Ahnung visits her friend Jaycee's school

Getting loving from my friend Jaycee

Today I got to visit my friend Jaycee's school. Jaycee is the daughter of my mom's co-worker. She and her mom came to my Celebration of Life party in April where I got to meet them for the first time. She's been asking her mom about me all the time and has been praying for me. She also got to meet my brother Legacy at my April, 2012 Celebration of Life party .. in fact, she got to hang onto my brother for most of my party as mom was busy.

Anyway, Jaycee had to write a story for class and guess what, she chose to write about me. She wrote this really cool story about me and shared with  her classmates where I came from, what I tough life I had till mom adopted me, how I'm a therapy dog, how I got cancer, and about our special party in April. She also shared in her story how my little Legacy was being a little squirt at my celebration party and got into the cake that was there!! :) Good thing mom didn't see him get into the cake!! After mom heard Jaycee wrote a story about me she offered for us to visit her class. Today was my lucky day.  I got a spa treatment on Saturday to get ready for my big visit today. Mom always tells me I have to look and smell good when I am 'working' as a therapy dog :) Today I got to see Jaycee and all of her classmates (they are in 2nd grade). She did such a wonderful job sharing my story. Then mom shared a few more stories about me and also the work we do volunteering in hospice as a pet partner team. At the end of our visit all the cool kids came up to me to say hi and I got lots and lots of hugs and belly rubs.

Thank you Jaycee for inviting us to come your school and to meet your classmates. You are one very special girl :)

After my spa treatment on Saturday

My friend Jaycee sharing the story she wrote about me :)

Lots of love and belly rubs!!

With my friend Jaycee and her mom Stephanie :)

And yesterday I got to visit my friend in hospice ... he was so happy to see me and says he LOVES my tail. He calls my tail the 'happy indicator.' He says I am very happy because my tail is always wagging!

Your own Ahnung ...

May we all have an Ahnung

May we all have our own north star

May we all have a soul connection capable of filling the spaces in our heart

   and in our universe

we never even knew were empty.

Ahnung and Legacy - Grand Marais, January, 2013

Note: At the end of December we learned that Ahnung's tumor in her lungs had grown 30%. A decision was made to stop chemo and to enjoy whatever remaining time left we have.