She taught me that too.

I found Mom's new writing table. It wasn't hidden. It's didn't say "don't read". It was just sitting there in the open. So I picked it up and read some. Now I am positive that putting it on the Internet is not my permission to do. However I found it lovely and something maybe the other humans on this site would relate too. So when she gets mad at me, I would appreciate it if someone has my back.... Emma Zen

And she wrote:

Being a woman who was brought up on a horse, I would have never guessed that my Black Beauty would turn out to be a Labrador. But that is exactly how this story goes. By the time I began this tale she was already three years old. She already had a name for herself. A bit of a local celebrity. A Shelter Survivor turn Therapy Dog. A model, a role model, a fundraiser and a most cherished Biker Dog. Her presence spanned the covers of newspapers, calendars, books, magazines, social portals and web address. If you doubt her standings, someday just "Google" Emma Zen.

She is my everything!

From this creature I have learned more than those before her have tried to teach me.

With this dog by my side I have been able to accomplish that which I use to just dream.

For the love of a dog how many can relate? Oh the answers of live that lie between our relationship, I see you.. :-)

This clarity gave me the opportunity to become me. It gave me a reason to concentrate on someone other than myself, and who emerged was... me! :-)

Such a momentous finding to be credited to a dog!

No wonder some societies worship them. I am not saying that I think my Dog is God, however she is the closest to Heaven I have even been to here on Earth. :-)

My life thus far has been grand!! I have had fortune and heavy baggage. I have seen success and tasted failures. I have loved and I have lost. I have stood atop a mountain and laid rock bottom. We all have. I have learned to be and have stopped trying to be. And yes, she taught me that too.

Anyhow building yourself and your life or your standing up is a lot of work, and can leave you with a hole inside that isn't pretty. Standing in the shallow with your hair combed, you can feel pretty good. (I have no idea why I just said that.) But yes, this too she taught me.

Oh I could write a book! (LOL) Giving each chapter of our lives a title and drawing out a picture in words. It would be fabulous. I believe so many would connect.

But why does it need to be our story? why does it need to be about us? Everyone has a story. And yours is just as important to you as mine is to me.

so I decide to stop talking, I decided to listen. She taught me that too. I leave the rest of this notebook empty, giving the next person a place to record your personal novel. So much of the life I have with my dog is documented and the feelings I have I get to acknowledge to myself. I hope you May do the same with the pages that are left.

I am in love with my dog, my everything, my Black Beauty. And that is exactly how my story goes.

Debra Jo Chiapuzio
(Then she drew a tiny picture of me.)

A note from my human

Today I took Emma to Therapy. There was a man with a cane who was laid out in a recliner stretched all the way back. I took the other recliner and pushed it up next to his and had Emma get up and lay in it. She curled up in a little ball and rested her head on the now 2 wide arm rest. Soon she fell asleep with the man's hand on her head. As I watched them both from a few feet away I saw him too close his eyes and then simultaneously, as if on cue, they both took a deep breath and sighed.

It was beautiful.

This is life.

There are no camera's allowed in this center and yet the picture was so beautiful. It makes me pause and wish to remind everyone to stop doing and just be. To put down the cameras, the computers and the cell phones. To go out and then come home with the vision of a yellow flower, or the memory of a good smell or the visual of such contentment. It is within those moments, the ones documented from our own accord that we actually feel alive.

Live on!

(Emma's human.)