One Year On…

No daft titles here today.

A year has flown by since Lilu passed away.  It is amazing how fast that seems to have gone.  8760 hours, that have ticked away without increasing speed, but in our minds, it seems like only yesterday we said goodbye to her and watched her silently pass from this world to the next, via the doggy rainbow that we have no access to.

All around we have our memories of her, on the walls, on the many bookcases, and I even have a tee shirt that has both Lilu and Harper (at 8 weeks old) on, which I have on today.

If I did not know better I would swear that Mazikeen is a reincarnation at times of Lilu.  She has so many of the same mannerisms and the same spirit of adventure.  Even the spiral staircase in the middle of the house was no obstacle to Lilu, and Mazikeen is the same, however, Harper puts her front paws on the first step and stands there waiting for us, never daring to climb even after watching the pup fly up and indeed when she was a pup herself watching Lilu go up, slowly as her walking was not the best after her spinal stroke, but she still wanted to go up, just for a potter about.  But I know by the Buddhist cycle of reincarnation that it is not possible, as they say, saṃsāra is an endless cycle without pause or end unless liberation is achieved by insight and the extinguishing of desire.

A year on and we still miss her like mad, and now and again emotions stir, a tear is shed, but the fun times and great memories are in abundance.  So I will leave you with a photo of her in one of her favourite places, the beach.

Lilu – Posing for a photograph before launching herself into the sea

30 Days of Music – Day 17

Ther are many songs that have meaning for me, but I have chosen two for you today.

Back in 1992, I started going to the gay scene in Liverpool and to a club called Reflections, sadly it is no longer there as it was outdone by one of the “superclubs” called Garlands.  Back in 1992 I got myself an apartment and was living in Liverpool, and had a pen friend from LA called Rocko who was staying with me for a few months, we decided that we would venture to the scene in Liverpool for the first time. Together we went into a bar called “Reflections” and it seemed like a piano bar, quite quiet for a Friday night in a big vibrant city.  Rocko decided to go and find a toilet, and on his return, open mouthed with glee written all over his face he said: “Oh my god, I have found a whole new world, come on!”  I followed him with a little excitement and a touch of trepidation down a longs staircase with music emitting from the depths.  We got to the bottom and he turned to me and said “Ready?”, I nodded, and as he opened the doors to the club, I was engulfed in lights dry ice smoke and an atmosphere I will never forget.  The song that started playing when we went in was my first choice. It was such a memorable time in my life, I even remember what I was wearing which was a pair of denim dungarees, a white v neck tee shirt, red tartan Dr Martin boots with green laces, and a black bomber jacket.  I had the time of my life and went to Reflections many times. When it closed down I, like the rest of the scene ended up in Garlands, which was and still is a great club, and I ended up a podium dancer there, but that’s another story.

Dr. Alban – It’s My Life

My second pick for today is a song that brings back many memories from my club days.  I had moved up north to a seaside town, and as well as my day job I used to work in the towns largest night clubs and ran the champagne lounge, so with that I had many many famous guests, but one of my guests was Edwin Starr. Now, at the time I was, and still am, to be honest, a fan of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and they had done a cover of War by Edwin, and it was one of many favourite songs at the time. When Edwin was a guest, I asked him if he would perform War for me, and he duly did, it was one of many highlights in my life, and I have fond memories of that night.