Hello, Heaven, it’s me, Lisa Marie. I live at The Tea House and I miss my friends so very, very much since they went to Rainbows Bridge! If I write notes to Peoples and Mikiko do you think an Angel could deliver them? Well, I’m going to close my eyes, cross my paws, spin around three times and catch my tail and wish and pray this so hard I know it will happen–so here’s my first note! Dear Peoples and Kiko: Everybody at The Tea House misses you like crazy. Olivia, Smudge and Taki-Sun said that I should try to get our messages to you since I’m the official Secretary of The Tea House Japanese Chin Club (I know you remember that!). So much has happened since you left us I hardly know where to begin. Mom visits your Rainbow Residency a lot and I stay close to her when I hear the music ‘cause she sometimes needs help with her tears. In case you don’t have a calendar, the flag was for Memorial Day. May as well start with the bad news–we lost JellyBean very suddenly on April 22 and I’m sure she is now with you at the Bridge. Mom and Dad were devastated! Three deaths in our fur family in such a short time (12/7/00, 3/1/01, 4/22/01)! PattiPaws is so lonesome without her “seeing eye” dog! All us Chin are trying to make her feel like she’s one of us. More bad news–all four of us Chin, PattiPaws the Poodle-Plus and Catarina, YOUR kitten, went for our annual visit with our Vet. You know what that means! We got checked from head to toe. Dr. Charlie looked in our mouths and ears, ran his fingers through our fur coats (we were clean and he didn’t find any fleas on us!), put that thing in our ears and gave us booster shots. Everybody but me had clean ears. I had “dirty waxy build up” and Mom has to clean my ears every day. Nurse Mary cleaned our teeth and did that “gland thing.” Ugh! Taki-Sun lost a bunch of teeth because she won’t let Mom brush her teeth. Of course, you know that Smudge has a very bad heart condition and she was really sick not too long ago. You probably know that Mom posted prayer requests for Smudge and now she is much better. We have a BONE to pick with you–remember, you two were the culprits who found and adopted that CAT! Catarina thought she could do anything she wanted now that you’re not here to continue her training. BIG MISTAKE! You can just guess what happened the first time she got out of line. That’s right, Empress Olivia put her royal paw on Catarina and that settled the issue of just who is in charge of the CAT! Of course, Empress Taki-Sun wields a pretty royal paw herself. Personally, I don’t think we will ever be able to make a JAPANESE CHIN out of a CAT but that doesn’t keep Olivia and Taki-Sun from trying. Good News: Dad got a new pontoon boat but we can’t go for rides until our life jackets come in. I tried to wear JellyBean’s jacket but it was too big. I looked so funny in it–like a lime lump with four paws sticking out! Dad said I had to wait on mine to arrive. Mom sent an e-mail to ask them to hurry up and send it. On Sunday, May 10, all four of us Chin went to church with Mom and Dad. That’s right. We got cleaned up, had our coats brushed, wore our flexi-leads and went right in. There were lots of dogs and cats and birds there because Dr. Reece was having an Animal Blessing Service! Mom gave testimony about Olivia’s healing. Remember when she was crippled and couldn’t walk and the doctors at Auburn called in Dr.Hwang to do acupuncture? That was when Olivia was 8 years old and she’s now 12 and is still running around acting like a puppy! Then we went up to the altar one at a time and he held us (‘cause we’re little) and gave us our blessing. It was really a nice service. Mom and Dad didn’t try to take PattiPaws since she’s blind, nor Bubba the Beta fish, nor Catarina, the CAT. So, on Friday, Dr. Reece is coming to our house to bless them. Now, how do you suppose he is going to hold that fish? I wonder how I’ll know if you get my note. I’m just going to trust that Angel! Hugs and kisses from all of us, Lisa Marie, Secretary The Tea House Japanese Chin Club