Leeloo Joins the Lemming Society

One of the blog's readers asked recently how Leeloo has been doing lately. So here's an update: She will still be wearing her leg brace for quite a while yet, but she is starting to use the leg more when she walks and plays.

(See Life Plays Us Like a Game of Jenga and The Dogleg in the Dog Leg, if you missed what happened to her).

~~~~~

Because of Leeloo's tumble down the stairs, she has now earned her place in The Kelley Family Lemming Society. Yesterday, she received her official club shirt.

What, you may ask, is The Kelley Family Lemming Society? I asked the club's founder, my husband Ken, to write an explanation:

Here follows a description of the Kelley Family Lemming Society (TM), and how it came into being.

The first inductee is my sister Co----. About 25 years ago, when she was a new driver, she was taking some friends for a spin in our family's little sporty convertible, an Austin-Healy Sprite. Well, there was a little too much "spin", and she lost control of the car, went off the road and down a fifty foot embankment. Crash. No major injuries, but we never did get that car working again.

The second inductee is my sister Ca----- (of my six sisters, four have names starting with "C"). About 13 years ago, she got married, and went with her new husband on honeymoon, hiking in the woods in New England. While hiking, she fell off a cliff, also about fifty feet. She hit some trees on the way down, which meant the final stop at the bottom wasn't as harsh as it might have been. She got to take a helicopter ride, but I don't think she remembered it. She was more seriously injured, but has recovered well.

The third inductee is my sister Cl----. About a year and a half ago, she was out with her sons on vacation in Iowa, riding 4-wheel ATCs around the countryside. Whee, another fifty foot cliff. She was in traction for a while, and now wears a brace. She is healing, but it'll be a while before she's done with the brace.

A little while after the third incident, I came up with the idea of forming the "Kelley Family Lemming Society". I made up T-shirts for them and presented them to my sisters when we gathered together for my mother's 80th birthday. I was a bit nervous that someone might be offended, but fortunately, they all thought it was hilarious.

While I was making the shirts, Nancy commented that if I did that, family members of mine would get jealous and throw themselves off cliffs in order to join. I laughed, but didn't disagree. Sure enough, since then, one of my nephews fell off a cliff. I haven't sent him his T-shirt yet.

So, it occurred to me that Leeloo fell off the Pomeranian equivalent of a fifty-foot cliff, so she should be in the society, too. So I made her a T-shirt and she is now an Official Member.

Fortunately, I haven't been in the position of awarding a membership to anyone posthumously. But if I die falling off a cliff, I suppose someone should make me up a shirt and bury me in it.

So as part of Leeloo's celebration of her new club membership, she's going on vacation to the beach with Ken this week, while I stay home!

Because someone has to stay home with the animals to do the daily chores, Ken and I took separate vacations this year. That way, we each get a break from the farm without having to pay for a farm sitter.

I already took my vacation in June (camping with friends). Now Ken is going to stay with some friends at their rented beach house all week. Since I can't go with him, he's taking his puppy.

Now that's a true example of the phrase, "lucky dog"!