8-7-09 - As the years have passed, the sting of loss becomes less but the amount of reflection I do each January and August seems more meaningful. Not too long ago I decided that perhaps on August 7th, I needed to celebrate "Happy Christy Day!" I decided that is it much better to celebrate Christy's energy and attitude by doing something fun or silly or spontaneous. This year on August 7th, I was visiting my brother and family and ironically I ended up at the Living Planet aquarium. The irony being that Christy grew up with a rather large fish tank in her home and later carried on that tradition in her adult homes. When I lived with her, I thought of the occasional evening we'd sit in the dark and watch the fish in Alice's tank - very peaceful yet intriguing. One of the fun things about Christy's childhood home on Eucalyptus St. was all the animals: fish, cats, Sheba, birds, chickens and horses! But I know that even as she grew up, there seemed to be one type of pet or another in the house, even when she was a single mom. Of course, the last time I saw her on our Disneyland trip, we made the drive to the desert to drop off the girls at John's and they were watching "Finding Nemo." Chelsea really loved when Dorie would speak 'whale' and Christy emulated that hilariously while we roamed Disneyland. It was so contagious, Julie and I were speaking 'whale' by the end of the day and giggling (of course)! So, since I haven't been to Disneyland since the advent of the Nemo ride, I believe I will need to partake in the ride just to commemorate the memory... a little token of having a "Happy Christy Day!"