Livre d'Or de l'élevage du Clos de Marialan (Guestbook)

Cher Alain et chère Marie,
Il y a bientôt deux mois, notre bien-aimé Wapi s'est envolé vers un autre monde, mais son âme ne nous a pas quittés. Comment pourrait-il en être autrement ? Nous avons partagé tant et tant d'amour, de tendresse et d'affection. Wapi avait une âme si belle et était si équilibré, un véritable sage. Nous n'aurions pu rêver plus beau cadeau de la vie. Et c'est à vous que nous le devons. Alors, un immense merci à vous deux, que le ciel a mis sur notre chemin.
Je n'oublierai jamais le jour où nous sommes venus chercher Wapi. Je te vois encore, Marie, le tenant dans tes bras. Tu étais rayonnante et, manifestement, Wapi nous attendait, car tu lui avais certainement dit que nous venions le chercher pour l'emmener vers une belle vie. Ce fut une rencontre si merveilleuse, qui a instantanément illuminé nos cœurs. Son départ pour un autre monde fut tout aussi émouvant. Nous étions tous les trois allongés sur le lit, Wapi entre nous, son petit cœur battant encore faiblement, prêt à s'éteindre. Alors que nous ne l'entendions plus depuis un certain temps, il nous a dit adieu par deux aboiements, ou plutôt au revoir, car un jour, là-bas, nous nous retrouverons. La vie est un grand mystère, dont nous pouvons parfois apercevoir un fragment lorsque le voile de l'illusion s'entrouvre.
Voilà, mes chers amis, que la vie vous soit douce et vous permette d'entrevoir ces petits bonheurs quotidiens.
Je vous embrasse, Jean. 

She sang …
Have you ever heard a puppy sing ?
Yes! She, my Hearty, sang! She was a coloratura soprano, and my friends said that she would soon make her debut at La Scala in Milan. She had inherited this gift from her mother, Firefly.
But she didn’t sing to just anyone. Only to those she loved, when she saw them: Angela, Dia, Eddie, Cătălin, Luci … She sang to Luci the most. She had a special weakness for him. She didn’t sing to anyone the way she sang to Luci …
She liked Eddie to play her favorite game with her: “give me your beloved paw and your enchanted paw and give me your nose to kiss.”
To Cătălin, because he was not only her friend, but also her doctor, when she saw him, she had her own, sophisticated and delicate way of pampering herself, as if she were saying: "you won't make me hurt, even if you prick me with that needle, right?"
To Angela, she was so tender because Angela always caressed her very gently, as she liked it so much.
To Dia, she always greeted her with the same song as for Luci, only with a slightly lower tonality. And the tail...? The tail vibrated so hard from right to left, that it moved her whole body.
For her, I walked 2500 km to bring her home. She was my first little girl!
When I was little, my Mom called me a fetiță-crăiță (little princess girl)
When I first took her home and hugged her to my chest, I told her: ”you are my little girl, my little princess girl.
Then, over the years, I kept telling her: Little girl with a bow, like a carnation, Tiți-Fetiti, Tiți-Moon – look at Moon! … She even had a poem of her own: “The most beautiful little girl in the world, the little girl with a bow, who has a dress and a bonnet, is a schoolgirl, goes to kindergarten and wears a crown.” She was the only one of all my children who had a poem.
All my children had their own song. Hearty’s song was “How Far” sung by Holograf. Today, now, these lyrics …
”And how far should I hide the thought so that it doesn’t remind me of you?
And how deep should I bury my heart so that it doesn’t struggle inside me anymore?
The whole sea couldn't sink, all this love, you know well …
No matter how far I ran, it wouldn't be too far … far from you ...
"How far, how far …
How far, how far …
How far should I take my love, away from you .. ?
How far, how far ...
How far, how far ...
No matter how far I ran on earth … I would return to you!”
When she was chosen and promised to me from her nest, Marie asked me what name I wanted to give her and to keep in mind that in that nest all the names of the puppies had to start with the letter "G".
I had thought, as was probably natural, being a rough collie with sable fur like in the movie, to call her Lassie, but I couldn't. I searched the internet. And I found it! "Gryta" - meant pearl in a language (I can't remember which). And yet I wasn't completely satisfied.
At that time, I had watched a movie about a puppy named HeartyPaw. A puppy who, out of love for her owner, a little boy, had endured a terrible life full of pain and cruelty, but in the end had managed to find him, save him and die in his arms. I remember crying at that movie like no other puppy movie. And that's when I decided!
I called Marie and said: "Please write on her pedigree like this: HeartyPaw Gryta Gold du Clos du Marialan". That was her name because that's what she was: A paw (meaning a puppy) all Heart, giving herself to me, and immaculate, unique and elegant as a pearl.
I said "chosen", because I didn't choose her. Marie chose her for me. At first I didn't understand and I was a little angry that she wouldn't let me choose my puppy. After Hearty came to me, I realized that Marie was an elite breeder, who didn't let you choose your puppy, but knowing the personality of each puppy and talking to every person who wanted a puppy from her kennel, being a good observer and psychologist, she chose for each one's nature, exactly the puppy that suited it, and offered to the puppy the most suitable person to love it, just as it was.
And Hearty was born for me, to bring me the drop of happiness lost when my Mother had become a snowflake. Hearty made me feel Mother.
She had her own absolutely special, unique and atypical personality, even as a puppy. A puppy of unparalleled good manners. I don't think anyone in this world has ever had a puppy as good as Hearty. She didn't break anything, she didn't gnaw anything, she didn't bother anyone. She was silent, shy, extremely quiet, calm, gentle, delicate. From the first beginning, as a little puppy, she was a princess. The 2500 km that we drove from France to Bucharest, she didn't cry once, she didn't do her needs once in the car. She sat well, calmly in her basket or in my arms and watched out the window as the trees passed before her eyes at the speed of the car, the fields, the streets we passed, the cars we met.
She had her own rhythm in agility and did this beautiful canine sport, just for me, just for my sake. It's not that she didn't like it, but she was more timid and didn't have amazing speed. Sometimes she liked it. Yes, she loved jumping over obstacles and she did it without a single mistake (she never knocked down a single bar) and she jumped with such elegance, it was as if she was flying and her whole big and beautiful, gold mane would swell in the wind then and she looked like a gazelle. Over time, knowing her and recognizing her in all the competitions or demonstrations we participated in, all the spectators and even the other competitors would crowd to take pictures of her when she jumped, she was so beautiful and majestic. With each jump she made over the obstacle, I could hear the flashes like you hear when paparazzi photograph celebrities. She also liked to climb the palisade. Two jumps, always correct, touching the area and she was up! As elegant and majestic as when jumping over obstacles. She “disgusted” the tunnel and the slalom. Why? Because through the tunnel and between the slalom poles all the other puppies were speeding past, sticking to the tunnel walls and the slalom poles. She wouldn’t even touch them! “How can I get my beautiful and fine fur dirty with this crap?” But she did all the obstacles and therefore did agility for me, because I wanted to. And she was also champion in Bucharest. And she was also at Ham Talent, appearing right in the credits of the show, where, although slow, everyone admired how beautiful and elegant she was and said that she was like a human mannequin on a catwalk presenting fashion when she did the slalom.
Because she wasn’t that fast, Eddie, jokingly, had called her Hartilonțul-said glonțul (bullet).
But she didn't get angry and she loved Eddie very much. When we came to the field, she would run to him, sit in front of him and, wagging her tail, stick out her nose, sing and wait for him to kiss her.
Even though she didn't like agility very much, she did double agility with her partner, Tedy, and her sister Lassie. They were the only ones who had ever done double agility.
Neither she nor I had ever been to any beauty contest and Cătălin, what was he thinking when I said I wanted to go to a beauty contest with her, threw us straight into the deep water and entered us into the Eurodog Show (which had come to Romania for the first time), the largest European canine beauty show competition. An extremely difficult competition, where dogs of all breeds from all over Europe came.
She was only 1 year and 6 months old when she participated in this huge competition.
We took training lessons on how to parade in the presentation ring.
Andrada combed her hair and prepared her like a princess. Everyone was excited. I… I won’t even say it anymore.
But she… stepped into the presentation ring elegantly, as she naturally was, with her head held high, like a princess. The judge, Mr. Deschumier, an international judge of Danish origin, who only judged rough collies in major dog competitions, leaned over her, checked her out, and standing up, said to me: “I’ve never seen a head as beautiful as hers since I’ve been judging.” And she won Best of Breed in that competition that was so big and so difficult, out of over 100 rough collies that had come. With a medal, a cockade, and honors.
On that day, October 7, 2012, her godmother, Dia, was supposed to come to support us together with her husband, Luci. Dia was pregnant with her first child, Luca. They had been preparing to come since 7:00 in the morning, when… Luca “announced” that he was coming into the world and Dia calmly told Luci: “we have to go to the hospital.” Luci’s calm answer remained memorable: “And we’re not going to see Hearty at the competition?”
I always said to her: “Who is the most beautiful girl in the world?” She would slightly lower her head to one side and, waving her tail so that her whole body moved, she would come towards me, supple, “humming” slightly, only she knew what, but as if saying in a song: “me, I am the most beautiful girl in the world, because I am your little princess girl”. Sometimes when she was lying with her muzzle on her paws in front of me and I was sitting on the couch, all I had to do was move my lips without saying this phrase “Who is the most beautiful girl in the world?” and she would immediately move the tip of her tail and look at me more intensely with her eyes shining with infinite love.
She loves, yes that’s the word, LOVES throwing the ball to her. If I threw it to her a trillion times, a trillion times she would go get it and come back so proudly with the ball in her mouth, wagging her tail and placing it at my feet. She would take two steps back and with her head up and her eyes fixed on the ball in my hand, wagging her tail, she would wait impatiently for me to throw it to her again and again and again and again …. to infinity… And although she loved playing with the ball, she wouldn’t go get the ball unless I threw it to her. No matter who else threw the ball to her, she wouldn’t go get it. It was just our game, and the “trophy”, the ball, she would give it only to me.
She was of a rare delicacy and gentleness. Everyone said she was a princess. When her little sister, Lassie, came to us (they had the same mother, Firefly), when Cătălin saw them he said: Lassie is still a shepherdess (because they both come from Marie, a breeder-lady from France who has a kennel of rough collies, but also sheep), but Hearty is and remains a princess.
When we went outside and it was raining and muddy, she would avoid every puddle and when she had to walk on the wet and muddy ground, she would stop and think: "how can I walk with my delicate and white paws through this mud and not get dirty?"
When I was working on the computer, she would always come and sit next to my chair and wouldn't move from there for hours. It was her place! Only hers! She could sit for hours looking at me without moving. Sometimes I would stop what I was doing and look at her. She wouldn't take her eyes off me! I would caress her, kiss her, and go back to my work, thinking, "How can someone look at you so still for hours with so much adoration, with so much love?"
If I was watching a melodramatic movie and felt like crying, I couldn't. If I thought about my own pain and felt like crying, I couldn't. Whenever I felt like crying, from wherever she was in the house, she would immediately come to me, in front of me, put her paw and long snout on my knees, and look at me with such a tender look: "Don't cry! I'm here, with you! I love you! I'm your little girl, and you're not alone!"
I don't like driving outside the city, but last year I said: "now or never!" and took her to the beach. She had never been to the beach before. And she loved it. It was October, but it was warm outside. We would sit on the deserted beach for hours. She would sit in the sphinx position and look into the distance quietly. The sea, the sand...
In the evening, she would fall asleep on the balcony with her nose in the breeze. She really liked the sea and I'm glad I was able to take her to see the sea.
Marie, she gave it to me secretly. Why do I say secretly? Because in France you are not allowed to take the puppies out of the nest until 3 months after they are born. And Hearty came to me when she was only 7 weeks old.
She came secretly and left secretly, tricking me. She made me go to the bathroom to get toilet paper to clean her nose and when I came back to the room … she … had sneaked away …
Last night, at some point, after we returned from the clinic, she was a little better and was waving her paws as if she wanted to get up and without a voice (she, the soprano who sang so beautifully!) as she had been for a long time, she was trying to tell me something …
I took her in my arms. With her head slightly tilted back, she kept trying to say: (h)au, (h)au, (h)au … and again: (h)au, (h)au, (h)au … and again … every time three times …
I didn’t understand what she wanted to tell me. I saw her agitated and I thought that this was hurting her. I was carressing her and trying to calm her down: “Shhh! Enough, mom, enough!”
I don't know what she wanted to tell me and I didn't understand.
When I came home and she was happy, she barked three times. When she wanted the ball to play with, she barked three times. When she was happy, she always barked three times …
Now … ? She was happy that she was better … , she was happy that she would be with me for a long time … ?
"Mom, mom, mom, I'm fine, my fever is gone, I'll always be with you ..."
I don't know ... I'll never know ... Why couldn't I understand?
Then she calmed down and didn't say anything until ... she left ... secretly ...
When Tedy was old and couldn't walk anymore, Eddie came for Christmas to see him and ... to say goodbye.
Today, when Hearty was in the infusion room, I was sitting in the yard for a while and a SMURD helicopter flew right over the clinic.
I thought: "It's Eddie coming to say goodbye to Hearty. But how can he come when he doesn't even know that she's sick and ... she's not going to live long ...? How can you come to say goodbye to someone if you don't know that they're leaving soon?"
And then I wrote him a message in which I told him that a helicopter had passed over the clinic where Hearty ... and that I thought it might be him.
He replied: "I was just flying, we've been landing for 30 minutes now".
Only God creates such events.
Less than an hour later, Eddie came to the clinic to say goodbye to Hearty.
Cătălin ... he's far away too. He had to go somewhere. I asked him: "Did you say goodbye to Hearty yesterday, maybe by the time you come back ...?"
He replied: "only half, because I still hope..."
Angela, from a very far distance, wrote to me this evening: "Please caress her and kiss her for me..."
I knelt down next to her, kissed her on the forehead, caressed her and said: "Angela told me to kiss you and caress you for her."
All puppies have a gentle, warm look. In their eyes you can sink into a world of infinite love.
Hearty, however, had in her eyes and in her entire facial expression, a warmth, a tenderness, a delicacy like I have never seen in any puppy before. She would sometimes look at you as if surprised, but with such indulgence and gentleness. And sometimes her gaze had such a sweet, childish naivety.
There are 22 days left until her birthday – April 5. She would have turned 14.
Yesterday, on the road, with clenched fists and tears in my eyes, I prayed to God: "Please let her be with me a little longer, until her birthday, so that she can also enjoy the trees that are starting to bloom, the spring that has come, the lilies of the valley. I bought her a stroller so that I can walk her in the park, let me walk her in the park a little longer this spring."
Today, seeing how she is suffering, so that we don't reach a terrible decision (as Cătălin used to tell me) I prayed to Him: "Please, help her to leave peacefully, without suffering. When You want, but let her not suffer ...”
Hearty never let me cry ... Hearty, now, has overturned the sky with all the rains in the world and the seas with all the waves on my cheeks and still there is not enough so many endless TEARS to be able to bring her back ...
Bucharest, March 15, 2025, hour 5 am and 3 minutes when she left ...

Le 02-01-2025  Chère amie Marie,
Les jours passèrent, ... les semaines ..., les mois ... J'attends que tu m'écrives ta nouvelle adresse comme tu me l'as promis la dernière fois. Le Père Noël aurait aimé venir chez vous. J'espère au moins que vous allez tous les deux bien avec vos amis à fourrure. Nous, ici, comme vous nous connaissez, nous passons du temps ensemble.
Gryta, 14 ans, fille du papa de votre Teddy et fille de votre Firefly, bien que vieille, est en bonne santé. Elle dort beaucoup, mais quand elle est réveillée, nous faisons de belles petites promenades.
Lalou, très bientôt 10 ans, fille de votre Hennky et de votre Firefly, est joyeuse et joueuse comme lorsqu'elle n'était qu'un chiot. Cela n'a pas changé du tout. Personne ne croit qu’elle a bientôt 10 ans. Tout le monde pense qu'elle n'a qu'un an, elle est si enfantine et joyeuse. Et elle adore être caressée par tout le monde.
J'ai des vacances jusqu'au 8 janvier 2025 et cela me rend heureuse car je peux passer le plus de temps possible avec elles, à lire, à écouter de la musique et à écrire des histoires.
J'ai essayé de penser à ce que je ferais quand Gryta serait partie. C'est très difficile ! J'aimerais aussi un autre collie. Mais je sais que tu n'as plus de chiots collie. Et je ne sais pas quoi faire. Je sais avec certitude que Lalou sera très triste. À propos de moi ... Je ne peux même pas y penser. Vous m'avez toujours donné de très sages conseils, et j'aurai aussi besoin de conseils maintenant. Qu'en penses-tu ? Dois-je prendre un autre chiot collie ? Mais d'où ?
Je vous serre dans mes bras avec beaucoup, beaucoup de tendresse et d'amour et vous souhaite un Noël plein de lumière et de paix dans votre âme et beaucoup de joie.
Avec amour, Gryta, Lalou et Ileana
 Le 01-01-2025  Cher ami Marie, Comme après avoir envoyé l'e-mail de Noël, vous ne m'avez pas répondu comme vous le faites toujours, je me suis un peu inquiétée. Je pense souvent à toi et maintenant je pensais que quelque chose de mal était arrivé si tu ne répondais pas et j'étais très triste. Mais je suis contente que tu ailles bien. Je suis désolé qu'Alain ne soit pas bien, mais il semble toujours profiter d'une belle vie avec toi et la douce Hysène.Oh mon Dieu ! Quelle quantité de neige vous avez ! Le paysage semble vraiment beau, mais comme vous le dites, se déplacer est très difficile. Ici, à Bucarest, s’il y avait une telle tempête de neige, tout serait paralysé et ce serait terrible. Heureusement pour moi, il n’a pas neigé depuis longtemps. Et j'espère qu'il ne neigera pas non plus. Comme je pense que vous vous en souvenez, je n’aime pas l’hiver. Je n’ai jamais aimé l’hiver, même quand j’étais enfant.J'ai lu aussi sur votre site, et je suis désolée, que vous n'ayez plus de chiots. Tout le monde, comme moi, attend avec impatience que vous ayez des chiots. Je sais combien c'est dur, et vu que tu es aussi plus âgée et que tu n'as qu'Hysène, c'est probablement très difficile d'avoir d'autres chiots. J'y réfléchirai le moment venu ... Il est encore temps d'ici là. Et honnêtement, je ne veux qu'un collie de toi. Mais...
Après la mi-février, j'enverrai le Père Noël à votre nouvelle adresse, que je vous remercie de m'avoir communiquée. Et en plus du Père Noël, je vous enverrai une surprise, un livre que j'ai publié il y a trois ans et que j'ai réussi à traduire en anglais. J'espère que vous apprécierez sa lecture.
Je pense à toi presque tous les jours et je parle à mes filles collies de toi Marie, d'Alain, de tous les bons chiots que tu as eu, de leur douce maman Firefly et du coquin Hennky, de la belle Carmen, du très aimé Rooper que j'ai eu le plaisir particulier de rencontrer. C'était si beau avec toi ... C'étaient des moments si merveilleux ... Puis sont arrivés les ennuis avec l'incendie, la séparation d'avec les chiots, le tourment de vivre parmi des étrangers, puis il y a eu la pandémie ... qui a semblé aliéner tout le monde ... et d'une manière ou d'une autre, nous nous sommes tous perdus dans un abîme d'oubli.
Lentement, lentement, toi et moi, nous avons perdu sur le pont arc-en-ciel les chers amis à fourrure que nous aimions tant et qui nous aimaient infiniment.
Je ne pourrai jamais t'oublier Marie ! Je ne peux pas oublier les merveilleux moments que nous avons vécus ensemble, comment j'ai rencontré Gryta et comment Lalou est venue à moi dans un petit sac pour son voyage ... Il y a tellement d'amour dans tous ces moments...
Peut-être ... qui sait, Dieu seul le sait, un jour je pourrai te revoir.
Je te serre dans mes bras avec beaucoup, beaucoup d'affection,
Ileana & Gryta et Lalou.   Le 04-12-2024   My dear friend Mrs. Marie,On Children's Day, June 1st, we went for a walk to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the founding of the agility school where Gryta and Lalou were once students.
I took pictures with our teacher Eddie, who even today loves them both equally, and I participated with Lalou in the Tunnel Cup competition, where even though we hadn't trained in 5 years, we got 3rd place.
Enjoy this little surprise from us!
We hug you with lots of love, Gryta, Lalou and Ileana 

Bonjour Marie et Alain, Le temps passe et nous voilà déjà à la fin de cette année 2024. Nous espérons que vous et votre Hysène vous portez bien et que vous êtes bien installés dans votre nouvelle maison. Notre Cher Wapi est toujours si extraordinaire, il a une volonté de vie Incroyable, dans 2 mois il aura 15 ans. Le plus important pour lui c’est qu’on soit toujours tous les deux avec lui. Il n’aime pas que l’un ou l’autre quitte la maison, sauf si c’est pour aller chercher à manger. Il est toujours aussi gourmand et à part quelques problèmes d’arrière train que nous lui soulageons avec des compléments alimentaires, il va bien. Bien entendu les longues promenades c’est terminé. On descend au lac seulement quand il en a envie. C’est à dire les jours de beau temps quand il y a les odeurs de pipi des autres Toutous. Sans ça c’est pas intéressant pour lui d’aller se promener après la pluie quand les sols ont été lavés. (ça ne l’intéresse pas !)
On vous embrasse bien fort tous les deux en vous souhaitant de belle fêtes, Wapi: fils à votre Carmen, Jean, Christof.

Bonsoir Marie, Alain. Enfin, enfin ... Je vous donne des nouvelles. Celà fait des mois que je me dis que je dois vous écrire et puis ... Tout d'abord comment allez-vous ? la santé ? J'imagine qu'elle va bien ! Ici rien de nouveau. Année chargée en diverses choses. Elle a passé à une vitesse incroyable. Et celà ne nous rajeunit pas. Notre Hindy qui va fêter ses 12 ans début Novembre va bien, elle a toujours un appétit incroyable, mais se montre aussi de temps à autre difficile. Une fois je mange mes croquettes, une fois je te donne un de ces coups de gueule dans mon assiette. Une heure plus tard, tout a disparu. Par contre le midi , son assiette de poulet, légumes et pâtes, pas le temps de dire ouf que tout est parti. Il y a quand même un fait, c'est que depuis le début de cette année, je trouve qu'elle a vieilli. Les promenades se font au pas d'escargot et parfois n'a même pas envie d'en faire; elle dort beaucoup. Elle a eu ces dernières semaines une crise d'arthrose à la patte avant et boîtait quelque peu. Donc cure de Flexadin comme l'année dernière. Mais ces derniers jours plus rien et trottine de nouveau un peu. De toute façon j'ai rendez-vous mardi chez l'osteopathe pour un petit massage. Je vous joins en mail une photo de ma petite câline (de plus en plus). Parfois elle me regarde avec un air insistant. Celà me fait penser à sa maman Carmen qui nous a fixé dans les yeux quand on est venu la chercher. On n'a pas oublié ce moment. A bientôt et bisous aux toutous. Monique et Robert et Hindy: fille de votre Carmen et de votre Teddy, de Waterloo en Belgique.

Bonsoir Marie bonsoir Alain. Je tenais VRAIMENT à vous remercier pour votre gentil message sur votre site concernant notre Jim ... et lorsque je le lis je fais que pleurer. JIM nous manque terriblement. Il était un chien adorable avec tout le monde. Les petits enfants le pleurent beaucoup. Lorsqu'il entendait la sonnette du portail il faisait le comité d'accueil, il aimait avoir du monde à la maison, il nous parlait. C'était un chien exceptionnel. Il nous a comblé de bonheur et nous l'avons aimé, choyé (câlins, caresses) Il avait accès à toutes les pièces de la maison, c'était un chien de très bonne compagnie. Heureusement nous avions la climatisation et il s'y installait bien dessous. Lors des balades, les gens s'arrêtaient pour le caresser, nous disaient que c'était un chien magnifique, et il y a même des enfants qui disaient "maman regarde un lion" ça nous amusait.
Affectueusement Marie et Alain,
Martine et Thierry, Drôme.

C'est avec un IMMENSE CHAGRIN que nous venons vous annoncer le départ de notre DOUX JIM le 03/09/2024 âgé de 10 ans et demi.
Il est allé rejoindre maman CARMEN et papa HENNKY.
10 ans et demi de bonheur, il était un adorable chien. La semaine dernière il ne mangeait plus, il ne buvait plus et refusait les balades.
Aujourd'hui nous le pleurons, nous le voyons partout dans la maison. Amitiés,Martine  et Thierry  de la Drôme.

My dear, dear friend,
Always a pleasure to receive your good thoughts for which I thank you.
I think of you often and always tell everyone about our beautiful meeting 13 years ago. Yes indeed, it has been 13 years ! 13th birthday of the beautiful and gentle Gryta (daughter's Firefly) and 9th birthday of the sweet and playful Lalou. (daughter's Firefly, Hennky) 
Still, with God's help, they are fine, healthy. And Lalou is still very playful, like a puppy. She is 9 years old but not even 2 months old in mind. Always playful like a puppy. Gryta had some health problems last November. I've been through some pretty unpleasant and emotionally painful experiences. I thought I was losing her. She was so sad, so weak. I was lucky with my brother who saved her. At first my brother declared himself unable to treat her, believing that her health problem was beyond him. I went to other vets he sent me to. Everyone gave their opinion (one opinion worse than another and more fatal than another) and they did nothing. I was desperate and then my brother said to me: come here to our clinic. He started giving her the medication he thought was most appropriate and within a week Gryta was on her feet again, full of life and health, when the other doctors wanted to euthanize her or told me she would die in a few days. I didn't want to write you about it at that time so as not to make you sad and worried. Now she is fine. Just older. But just as gentle and wonderful.
Other news that I didn't get to write to you about is that last year in October (when it was hot in Romania), I went to the sea for 10 days. They were at sea for the first time in their lives. Lalou swam. They were so happy. They liked it very much. We would sit for hours on the beach (the sun was mild, autumn) and they would sleep and I would read. It was delightful. I hadn't been to the sea either since 2004. The beach was almost empty, because people don't go to the sea in October. In the evening we would go to the terrace and they would eat roast chicken, and then we would go to the apartment that I had rented and they would sit on the balcony breathing in the breeze, listening to the waves and falling asleep. It was absolutely wonderful ! Otherwise, we are fine. It is a very difficult and very troubled year for everyone, even for me. I'm very, very busy at work. I hear only problems around me: financial, health, separation, work. Many laws have changed in Romania and everyone is going crazy. Several of my friends have died and their place remains empty and sadness overwhelms us.
I have published two books in the last two years. I can email them to you in English if you want to read them. One of them was the bestseller of the year.
I follow your site as often as I can. I'm sorry for all the furry friends you've lost. And I understood from the posts on the website that you no longer have a kennel. How sad ! I think it was the best and most beautiful kennel in Europe. I often think of your Firefly, her song, whenever we talked on the phone, how she was sitting on the bed on the woolen blanket I gave you. I hope you are doing as well as possible.
Please send me some pictures of your new house if you want. And if you want your address, so that I can send you a pleasant surprise from Romania from time to time (because all my gifts were unfortunately lost in that disastrous fire).
Would you mind giving me a phone number too? to tell from time to time about our joys and sorrows...
I hug you with much love, Your friend, Ileana, Gryta and Lalou each send you a kiss, from Romania.

Coucou. Meilleurs vœux pour le 1er mai. Ici, il fait froid et humide, mais demain il devrait faire meilleur. Nous partons en vacances samedi au Racou où nous avons loué un chalet sur la plage. C'est le bonheur ! Nous avons été en Angleterre (tous les 4) Le voyage depuis ici a été épouvantable. Il a plu pendant tout le trajet jusqu'à Calais. Deux jours complets de voyage et nous avons été trempés pendant deux jours !  Nous avons emprunté le tunnel sous la manche, ce qui était un bon choix car il y avait une terrible tempête sur la côte et des inondations partout ! Nous sommes heureux d'être à la maison. Judy a fêté son 10ème anniversaire le 3 avril.  Les années ont passé trop vite. Merci pour la belle photo d'Hysène. Je vous souhaite une bonne journée. Bisous, Hazel.

Bonsoir les Amis, eh oui que le temps, les années passent trop vite ! Wapi notre merveilleux Toutou d'Amour a une volonté de vie incroyable ! toujours très bon appétit et toujours aussi joueur et farceur. Pendant que je te réponds il me réclame des papouilles. Nous faisons maintenant  des toutes petites promenades au bord du lac, il marche beaucoup plus lentement, alors nous allons tout tranquille à son rythme. Il a plus de 14 ans, ce qui est vraiment un cadeau du ciel car tous n’arrivent malheureusement pas à cet âge . On le chouchoute, et pour éviter de le transporter pour ses vaccins vétérinaires et contrôle de santé, on a trouvé un vétérinaire qui vient à la maison, c’est bien pratique.La vidéo est effectivement très belle, Merci MARIE. On pense fort à vous et espérons que Hysène et vous, êtes en pleine forme.Avec nos meilleures pensées à tous les deux. On vous embrasse bien fort, Wapi, Christof, Jean.