"It's not over till the 'fat lady' sings"....

---

It's been said that music can lift even the lowest spirit.  That's something I couldn't understand - being deaf - so I talked the whole thing over with Ambrr.  She explained to me that even I can 'hear' the 'music' - if only I listened long enough and hard enough.

"WHAT?"

Here's a little conversation that I had one day with Ambrr our 'Nana Dog'...

AMBRR:  "You see", Ambrr said, "music is something inside each and every one of us." 

"When you feel that warmth of the sun on your nose - that's music.  When you smell that turkey in the oven - that's music.  When you taste something you've never DREAMED of tasting and that taste seems to last forever - THAT'S music."

"Life offers us lots of things - warmth, comfort, dreams, joy, and strength to overcome any obstacle that might otherwise trip us up.  These things form a tapestry over time and become our past memories, but they will never stop being the warmth, comfort, dreams, joy and strength they were when new.  That's the 'magic' of life, Gabriel.  When you're older, you'll understand what I'm talking about."

GABRIEL: "OK - I understand the stuff about the sun and the turkey and the tasty morsels, but how do I find the 'music' in these things?  When you can't hear, you can't hear!  And that includes MUSIC!"

AMBRR: "Not true, my boy!  Some of the finest music in the world was written by a deaf man: Ludwig van Beethoven.  He's known all over the world as 'Beethoven the Immortal' - which means he and his music will last forever."

GABRIEL: "You're telling me that a DEAF man was able to HEAR?  Ambrr, I don't know what sort of medication mom has you on, but you need to go off it all NOW!  You're going 'soft' in the head!"

AMBRR: "Well, Beethoven wasn't BORN deaf.  While he could hear, he performed.  He played the piano AND he played the viola - the same thing that Andy played.  Ludwig was a great performer!  He was known by THE greatest musicians as one of the GREATEST musicians ever to have lived!  He taught others to play too."

"But after he started to become deaf, he started COMPOSING more and more instead of PERFORMING or teaching.  Actually some of his finest compositions were written AFTER he lost his hearing!  If you could hear, you'd know that his music is played around here a lot.  There's something special about him - and his music - partly because our Andy loved his music so much.  Since Andy's gone now, this music he and Beethoven loved and played has become pretty darn special!"

GABRIEL: "I know Andy played the viola - whatever that is.  You've already told me all about that.  I wish I COULD hear.  Sometimes I pick up on something...vibrations with a BEAT. Is that what I'm 'hearing'...or feeling?"

AMBRR: "Could be.  Vibrations come from a lot of things - like the TV, for instance.  They come from someone just walking around the house - or a really loud and noisy truck driving past the house.  But sometimes, the vibrations you pick up on come from music.  THOSE vibrations are soft and comforting - at least around this place."

GABRIEL: "So - go on - tell me about Beethoven.  When did he go deaf?  And how did he still write music when he couldn't hear it any more?"

"When he was in his twenties - young for humans - Beethoven started noticing that he couldn't' hear as well as he used to hear. He kept up his music though - composing, performing, conducting - he could do it all!  For so long - since he was little - he thought he was pretty lucky to have such talent.  He really started getting well known when he was TWELVE YEARS OLD - REALLY young for humans!  His music got him through some tough times at home.  His dad wasn't very nice to him at times, so he appreciated 'escaping' into the warmth of music."

"Then he started having a 'ringing' in his ears and that just about drove him crazy!  It got so bad that they say once he was conducting a concert and when it was over, he had to look at the audience to know they were clapping their hands for him.  That was hard.  They say he even cried.  He wasn't feeling so lucky any more, and it was going to get even worse."

"Once he knew he was starting to go deaf, he was MAD!  He worried about what others would think of him - this MUSICIAN WHO COULDN'T HEAR.  He got really depressed and mad at the world, but he tried to keep the deafness a big secret from everyone around him.  He started keeping people away as much as he could.  Pretty soon, that became impossible."

"Eventually, they tell me, Beethoven accepted the deafness.  He began using a notebook for his friends to write in and for him to answer back.  He ended up with LOTS of these notebooks, but they tell me most of them were destroyed.  The others are still around and people study them to understand more about Beethoven and his music.  He's quite a legend - for a guy who was DEAF!"

GABRIEL:  "Wow!  (Or should I say 'Bow Wow'!)  I still don't understand how he did so much composing when he was deaf though."

AMBRR: "Those vibrations we were talking about are exactly what Beethoven used to 'make music'.  He had a long rod that he'd use to 'hear' vibrations.  He would put one end in his mouth and bite down on it.  He'd put the other end on the piano so that the vibrations could be felt in his jaw.  I know - sounds weird to me too - but at that time there wasn't a lot of other ways to do it!"

"I guess my point here is this:  there are all sorts of ways to 'hear', Gabriel.  And all sorts of ways to 'hear' music too.  Everyone just has to do it however they can."

GABRIEL:  "OK. Got it.  Sort of. Why are we even talking about music anyway?"

AMBRR:  "Ah - that's the real story!  As I've said before, music is something magical.  It can give you so much to be thankful for - even when things aren't looking so good. BUT - eventually - we ALL go 'deaf' and the magic of the music will seem to stop."

GABRIEL:  "Ambrr, you're losing me again.  What do you mean it stops?  EVERYBODY goes DEAF?  You're talking to a young pup here, Ambrr.  You have to say things so I can understand them."

AMBRR:  "Well, what I mean is this:  sooner or later, there comes a time in everyone's life when it's hard to hear the music....meaning...we get older or we get really sick and we start to 'go deaf' to the beauty of good health and youth (our 'music').  We don't talk about it much - maybe because it's sort of sad or maybe because it's hard to talk about for most of us.  But it's something that will happen to each and every one of us...in time."

"When a pup gets sick, sometimes it's something really simple and a good dose of medicine from the Vet seems to take care of it all.  Other times though, even the best meds from the best Vets just aren't enough 'magic' to make things right.  I've lost lots of pals over the years when their 'magic' quit working."

GABRIEL:  "You mean...they...died?"

AMBRR:  "Yes.  Hey - it happens.  As strange as it sounds - it's all part of life.  I remember HANDS telling me once that her grandmother once said to the doctor "If you live long enough, you're going to die".  HANDS thought that was pretty funny, and told her grandmother that 'that was a good one'.  But it's true.  If we live long enough - we're going to die."

"This isn't something you should think of every second of the day.  But it IS something you will have to think about one day.  And it's something our HUMANS will have to think about too - for US as well as them.  One day, the music is going to end for all of us - even though the beauty of our music will remain immortal."

THE MAESTRO & THE CADENCE

Our lives are made up of lots and lots of tiny moments. 

Most of those moments are great! 

Some aren't so great. 

Others? 

Well, they're not so good.  But that's LIFE for ya! 

Ups and downs and...well...a tapestry of sorts!

There are times when a dog can start to have one of those 'not so good' times after another - and that ain't pretty!  It just happens.  One day, you're feeling pretty puppish - and WHAM - the next day, you're feeling pupped out!

One thing no one likes to talk about is 'the dying'.

Since we don't like hearing the word 'die' at all - I'll talk about it in another way...a gentler way.  Let's start at the beginning...when youth was just something we thought would last forever........

~

As a puppy, life looks pretty good!  We've got everything we need right there - our mom, our dinner, and our home all in one big wrapped gift. 

Well, that's true for most of us anyway. 

Then we start seeing some pretty interesting things and we work up enough nerve to explore. 

We find all sorts of great finds!  Toys, shoes, slippers - lots of things! 

All of a sudden, it's sort of boring just staying around mom and eating.  There are other things to do out there and we want to do them all!

Then is when we are 'hearing' the beginnings of 'our music' that will be written. 

Over time, we'll keep adding 'notes', 'chords', 'stanzas' and then 'lyrics' until we've got ourselves a real 'COMPOSITION'! 

And then, as we get older, we start changing the 'tempo' a little bit here, and the 'words' a little bit there, and we start adding some  'crescendo' and 'decrescendo' to the mix. 

Sooner or later, we've 'composed' something unlike any other 'piece of music' in the world: OUR LIFE!

WE are now 'the Maestro'!

The 'tune', the 'lyrics' and the 'rhythm' of 'our life' becomes for us a 'sonnet' by which we are known forever. 

This 'music' is enjoyed by our friends and family, but the 'composing' process might only be shared with those who are our CLOSEST loved ones.  They get to see the real work in progress.  They know how much time and effort we've put into this piece and they know better than anyone else the real magic of this 'tapestry of melodies' we call 'us'.

And then, when we think we've written all there is to write - life throws us yet another 'melody'...or maybe a 'counter-melody'. 

There is no easy way around this, so here it is...straight from the muzzle of your Nana Dog...me.

There are all sorts of things out there that can work on destroying our quality of life.  ALL SORTS OF THINGS!

  I'm not talking about blindness or anything that simple.  After all, Gabriel and Allicks and Possum (our faster gal) are all blind, and they're hard to keep up with! 

I'm not talking about deafness either.  Gabriel and Possum are both deaf and they get along quite well while being spared some ugly sounds that creep into the days and nights.  My own hearing probably isn't what it used to be when I was a young pup, but that's fine. 

These are things we can learn to live with and life will still be great.

I'm talking about other things here - things that will, in time, rob us of our very will to live. 

BIG THINGS!

Living with pain is one thing - living without the slightest relief of SEVERE pain is something entirely different. 

An illness or injury which leaves our bodies hurting too much for words is something NO ONE wants to bear for long. 

Broken bones? 

Well, those can be fixed for the most part. 

But broken backs that can sometimes leave you just cringing in pain? Well, that's something that might just make us want to write that 'final composition' and leave the 'music' to those left behind to enjoy.

You get where I'm going with this?

Sometimes there just isn't enough of the 'magic' out there to keep us living life in a happy way. 

And when that happens - we know it. 

That's one thing I'm sure of in this life; we'll KNOW it!

When I can't feel the warmth anymore or can't remember to eat or can't remember YOU - those are the things that will make ME want to take that trip to Rainbow Bridge. 

I know that I'll have to be the one to 'break the news' to all of you.  I'll find a way to do that - so you'll all KNOW that it's time....MY time.

It isn't easy - this living process. 

It's hard sometimes. 

It's painful and sometimes pretty scary. 

When that 'music' that once was fresh and new and inviting and comforting - all of a sudden scares the daylights out of us - it's time perhaps to write that 'final opus' - that 'last score of the music'.

When that time comes around (and I'm not expecting that time for ME to come around any too SOON), we might just as well be knowledgeable about the options.  Our humans better read up on these options too so that they aren't blind sighted (so to speak) and overwhelmed and too much in denial to 'make that call' to 'the curtain man'.

Simply put - there is (as you've all heard before) a time to live and a time to die.

You don't have to get mad at the world when it's your time - though, like Beethoven, some do. 

You don't have to shut others out or make them stay away from you either - though, like Beethoven, some do. 

You need to do what Beethoven FINALLY did and accept this newest challenge as fact...and then continue with life while you have it to live.

When it IS your 'time'...know your stuff. 

Be ready to make that decision. 

Be ready to let your humans KNOW it's your time.  (That will sure make it easier on them!) 

And, most importantly, remember that - come what may - your 'music' will remain immortal!

"How will I know?" isn't an easy question for our humans to answer, but there are lots of sites out there in the internet world that might be able to help your humans out.  One is here: http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/lossandgrief/f/FAQ_euthanasia.htm.  They'll find some facts about assisting animals in need of...that last trip. 

I know - it's hard.  Goodbyes are never easy to make - for any of us.

BUT - when 'that fat lady sings' - it's over. 

When that last 'curtain call' is made - the stage disappears behind that curtain.

When 'last call' is announced - the pub is closing. 

And when YOUR 'composition' is complete - it's time to make that trip to the other side and do it in the gentlest way possible.

Dying isn't the WORST thing that can happen in life.

It's just the LAST thing we'll have to endure.

Now, doesn't that make it sound a little bit softer?

No?

You're right.

There's no 'soft' way to talk about this stuff, so I'll let you go to think about it in private.

And while you're thinking...do some 'composing'!

It is through YOUR 'MUSIC'... that YOU shall remain IMMORTAL....

~

by Ambrr