FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

1. Claudie my friend of Southern France had returned home and the house suddenly seemed empty. As it was again too cold to sit on our terrace,  I went to Ilona.



Her terrace was sunny and warm and we enjoyed the sunshine and chatted (of course) Her first tomatos has grown and the roses were in full bloom.

2. Poor Nicole was in a very stressful situation which also concerned me. We have a common friend Marianne. She really is a special case and had always been. But now a real drama had happened. After her husband had been diagnosed with Alzheimer, she just couldn't cope with this. She decided to die, killed her cat and the parrot and then lay in her bed. Neighbors alerted the police and the social services, when both of them didn't show up for several days. She slammed the door in front of them and didn't let them in. As she wouldn't talk to us, finally another friend managed to get into the house. She found Marianne in her bed, half starved and in her excrements. The husband was totally confused and looked like a skeleton.
An ambulance took Marianne to the next hospital to save her life. The friend remained with the husband and the little dog Kiwi which Marianne had not killed. To save Kiwi from an animal shelter, Nicole took her home.

3.



Little Kiwi is such a cute and nice dog and is big friend with Charlie Nicole's Golden Retriever. Kiwi seemed to be healthy although traumatized. Pierre the husband refused to be taken by ambulance to the hospital, so Nicole and the friend got him by ruse. They told him they would drive him to the hospital so that he could see his wife. There they just left him in the emergency service, this was the only mean to draw the attention to the social services who should take care of this couple, as they both had no family at all. Nicole got a phone call from a very angry employee, saying that they don't know what to do with him ! Nicole answered that she is only a friend and that they had to cope with this case. Later we learned that he has escaped 3 times and nobody knows how he had managed to return home. The police caught him each time and brought him back to the hospital. A horrible situation ! Now finally they had moved and have put him in a home annexed to the hospital and he is allowed to see his wife each day. She is better too and as soon as her physical conditions are OK, they will be moved together into a specialized home. Finally some good news. I thought is is just terrible when you have no family and depend on the state ! They had payed their taxes their whole life and no official service felt responsible for them ! A real shame ! Their house will be sold to cover their expenses.

4. But now Nicole had worries with Kiwi. We needed her papers her chip number and her vaccination dates, as we want to find a good home for Kiwi. Nicole is unable to cope with two dogs for a long time.

So I went with her to Kiwi's vet and asked for copies of her documents. The secretary was first very reluctant to give us the information she probably thought we wanted to sell Kiwi, as these breed is rather expensive. Finally after I had told her the whole story she became very friendly and gave us everything we needed. What a relief !



After the vet we went into a nearby park for a walk  to calm down this rather stressful morning.



Then it was lunchtime and we went to a restaurant specialized for mussels I love them and badly needed a treat ! Kiwi wanted to taste them too, but I resisted her beautiful begging eyes ! I wished I could have taken her, but with my four cats that's impossible !

5.



The next day I had to attend a meeting in Center of Culture of Waterloo. For October they organize a "Parcours des artistes de Waterloo" (on the path of Waterloo Artist) and we had to vote for the advertising poster and the map showing the route to go to find the various artists. We will be about 100 to expose our masterpieces in different places of the city.

When I came home I got a phone call from Nicole telling me the last events about Kiwi's future. The friend who had managed to put the couple in the hospital wanted to take her and give her to a family in Antwerp where she lives. Nicole refused she said she wouldn't give the dog away without Marianne's permission. Apparently Marianne was better and could talk and also was clear in her mind again. A decision was taken, Kiwi would go to the family in Antwerp because she knows the people and would be happy there. With a heavy heart Nicole drove Kiwi and the friend to the station and waved Kiwi good bye. I was relieved ! Now at least we both were sure that Kiwi would have a good life in the future and hopefully forget this trauma.

After all I had heard about Marianne, I decided to visit her during the weekend. I am sure that she had forgotten by now that she had told me she never wanted to see me again. She is in a very bad state and it is not sure if she will ever get out from the hospital.

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.