NOW PLAYING: TRUCKIN'
(with apologies to The Grateful Dead

Sometimes the lights all shinin' on me;
Other times I can barely see.
Lately it occurs to me
What a long, strange trip it's been.

Truckin', I'm a-goin' home.
Whoa whoa baby, back where I belong,
Back home, sit down and CHEW my bones . . .

JOEY GOES HOME WHAT A LONG, STRANGE TRIP IT'S BEEN 7 NOVEMBER 2008
Char writes: It has been a long & tortuous journey, but Joey has finally escaped the clutches of his evil Foster Mom, who has kept him imprisoned in her lair, tormented by the evil step-foster sister, Kizzie, for just a few days short of a year.
Nothing could deter him. Neither Kizzie's attempts to distract his new family nor his foster mom's sweet-talking attempts to hold him could keep him from his destiny. He was going home, to his own home, to live happily ever after with Nita & Kathie and, as an only dog, to exercise dominion over them and over all that he surveys.
There is something so very special about Joey. It's indefinable, but indisputably true. It could be his wistfully sad expression. Or his toughness in the face of adversity. Or, it could be the sweetness of his soul that shines through those big brown eyes. I only know that when people come to visit and meet Joey for the first time, when they leave, they leave behind hearts that have melted and puddled in their wake.

Now that I'm home, bathed, settled and fed, All nicely tucked in my warm new bed. I'd like to open my baggage Lest I forget, There is so much to carry - So much to regret. Hmm . . . Yes there it is, right on the top - Let's unpack Loneliness, Heartache and Loss, And there by my leash hide Fear and Shame. As I look on these things I tried so hard to leave - I still have to unpack my baggage called Pain. I loved them, the others, the ones who left me, But I wasn't good enough - for they didn't want me. Will you add to my baggage? Will you help me unpack? Or will you just look at my things And take me right back? Do you have the time to help me unpack? To put away my baggage, To never re-pack? I pray that you do - I'm so tired you see, But I do come with baggage - Will you still want me? -- Evelyn Colbath

CONTINUE WITH
JOEY'S STORY HERE