Today is our 14th Wedding Anniversary

I met Howard Gene Baskin on November 1, 2002.  A year later, on the same day, we were engaged.  A year later, on the same day we were wed.  We haven’t had our first fight yet.  He’s just the sweetest person ever and has changed my life in so many ways.  He’s changed the trajectory of the sanctuary and enabled us to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

 

Today we decided to do something we’ve never done before.  We are taking the day off.  No cell phones, no computers, no fires to put out.  Just a day of being together at home and relaxing.  I haven’t taken a day like this since our honeymoon on St. Johns, but even then I banged out our 25 year strategic plan, so that might not count.  

 

Howie gave me a cute little magnet of a tuxedo cat taking a selfie that says, Love Your Selfie.  He knows I despise magnets on refrigerators, but I have a couple on file cabinets, so I put this one at eye level, at least until I break out of this funk.  I’m still depressed and even more so after yesterday.  

 

Rebecca Chaiklin and Eric Goode have been working on their documentary for years and she just asked, again, for any photos of me as a teenager.  When Mom moved to Chuck’s house she left all of the family scrap books with me, saying she didn’t have room for them.  I decided to go through them yesterday to see what old photos of me I could dig up and found a dozen or so.  What I noticed was that from volumes and volumes of family photos, vacations, visitation at family members homes,  parties, reunions, and all...I was conspicuously missing.  I was at work.  

 

As I poured over the photos, I saw smiling faces; some posed for the classic group shots, and others more candid.  I realized that I wasn’t missing because I was taking the photo.  I was missing because I wasn’t there at all.  Over the decades of images I watched Jamie grow up.  I saw her grow up with her cousins and her grand parents.  Sometimes she looked happy and I was relieved, but so often she looked sad and it breaks my heart. 

 

 

Some of the photos sparked memories to rise to the surface, and if I can’t sit still today, I might fill in some of those gaps in my past on these pages.  None of those memories are going to do anything to raise this veil of gloom though.  May as well get it down on paper while I’m already feeling low.  I know this is just a fleeting feeling and I’ll be riding that wave of excitement for the future where all wild cats live free soon. 

 

Hi, I’m Carole Baskin and I’ve been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  These are my views and opinions. If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

 

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.  

 

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Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.  Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk