I Was Interviewed by Amber!

Amber sent me these questions....

1. What is your greatest accomplishment?

My greatest accomplishment...that's a difficult question to answer... I often feel although I have not accomplished much in my life. But I think it's safe to say that my biggest accomplishment is surviving. When my husband died, I received a card in the mail from a woman who used to be a consultant for the Deaf in my school division when I was in high school. She wrote in her card of all the things she has seen me overcome, including the obstacles to get through high school (as a Deaf/HOH student in a public school) in order to graduate, and the death of my daughter. She said that she knew I would survive this too. I guess it goes to show that that's what other people see me as too... a survivor....

2. What are you most looking forward to in 2009?

Quite honestly, I am living day by day. In fact, I am living moment to moment. It is difficult for me to even look towards the end of the day, let alone ahead to the rest of the year. That said, I do have some goals for 2009. I am again organizing the Walk to Remember here in my city, and I am also in the process of planning a girls weekend to meet some of my favorite mommies. (Fellow bereaved parents that I met at the beginning of my grief and continue to keep in touch with) I hope that these things work out. I am also going to attempt to do some more work on my house... it's what my husband wanted me to do.

3. What are some of your favorite things about Canada? Have you ever lived somewhere else?

I have only lived in 2 cities my whole life. Both in the same province. I have lived here since 1996, when I came here to go to college. I never went back "home" because I got a job here, and eventually, this became my home.

4. Tell us Emma's story. When did you get her? How did you decide on her name?

We got Emma in July 2007. I was longing to fill my empty arms after losing my daughter in 2005 but I was still too scared to have another baby. I told my husband that I just want to go look at the dogs at the Humane Society, but we met and fell in love with Emma then. We met with a few other dogs while we were there, but Emma made me laugh out loud and smile the first real smile I had since I lost my daughter. I knew then that she was mine.

When we met her, her name was Violet. She doesn't look like a Violet to me. We had to wait til the next day before we could bring her home, so that night I was on the internet trying to find the perfect name for our new pup. When I came across the name Emma, I saw that it meant "Healer of the universe" so I knew that was the perfect name... she was going to heal our universe.

We don't really know where Emma came from. We do know that she was approximately 4 months old when we got her, and that she had been found wandering on the street on a very cold March day. She has a docked tail, which means someone amputated it. The Humane Society never told us whether it was like this when they got her or if they had to do it themselves (frostbite?), but when we took her to the vet for the first time, the vet looked at her tail and said that it looked like a shabby amateur job.

Now Emma is nearly 2 years old. And I could not ask for a better pup. She does drive me crazy sometimes but she is big on loving too, and I'm so grateful for her. She will heal my broken heart... at least a little bit.

5. Were you named after anyone?

Not officially, but I do have the same first and last (maiden) name as a cousin. My parents didn't know this when they named me. My middle name is the same as my dad's sister, which is also a paternal family name, but my parents claim that I was not named after anyone, they just liked the name. Actually, my mom named me. My dad named my brothers. I don't much like my name.


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Thanks for these thought provoking questions, Amber.

Now if you would like to participate, just follow the instructions below:

Now if you'd like to be interviewed:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions, so make sure you leave me your email address. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.