A couple of weeks ago I posted a letter to the drunk driver that killed my father and one of my comments said I should write about my dad. I took the advice and this post is to my father and the way he lived. My dad was the first man in my life. The first man to ever love me. The first man I ever loved. When he was born his heart was under his arm and doctors said he would not live past 5 boy were they wrong. He had to have multiple surgeries which ended with them having to put a metal plate in his chest to keep his heart in place. He lived with pain all his life but this never held him back. He lived life to the fullest each an everyday. I remember the story of how my mom and him met they only knew each other a weekend before they ran off to Charleston, South Carolina and got married. No one expected their marriage to last but they were married 25 years before his death. I learned so much from my father respect, confidence, compassion, caring, and how to stand up for myself and the things I believe in. Growing up my dad always called be Jr because even though I was a girl I was given his first name Michael. I used to get so mad because at school the other kids always picked on me because of my name. Now looking back I would not trade my name for any other it's a piece of my dad. I am honored to carry on this wonderful mans name. My dad was very old fashion when it came to his daughter I was not allowed to date till I was 16 and even then the boy had to come and meet my parents. If my dad did not like him than I did not get to go with the boy. My dad would literally set in our living room with his shot gun across his lap when the boy came over. I once ask him why he did this and his response was "so the boy knows I mean business." Not that my father would ever have shot someone it was only a scare tactic. My dad was the kind of man that would give his last dollar to help someone. He taught me that you should always help someone in need because you can't take your worldly possessions to heaven when you die. He instilled in me a love for all people and that you never ever judge someone by what is on the outside but what is on the inside. He taught me to dream big and go after all my dreams. That there is nothing I can not achieve. He taught me the golden rule to treat others the way I want to be treated. Most importantly he taught me to live life everyday to it's fullest because you never know when your time here on earth is done. I am a Christian and I know my dad is watching me from heaven smiling down on me. I gave my son my fathers middle name Anthony since he passed away before meeting his grandson. I know that I will see my father again one day. Daddy I love you and miss you. Thank you for the life lessons you taught me and the love you gave me.

            Michael Anthony Golden    

Dad and Mom when they met.

Dad and Mom on Wedding Day

 Well I decided today I would post a happy blog. I have posted some pretty emotional stuff about me and my life in the last few blogs. So today I wanted to post about the Halloween Poochie Parade put on by our local ASPCA. Today the husband and I went to the Tower District where we live to take part in this fun activity for pets. I really enjoyed it and the animals that were in attendance were all adorable in costume. Even the ones not dressed up were cute has a button. They had a contest for best dog in costume. I took lots of pictures but I wanted  to get my fellow xangans to weigh in and vote for the dog that they thought had the best costume. Here are pictures of the top 5 finalist.

Heres is number 1 the airplane doxie.

Here is number 2 the Scotish Terrier angel.

Here is number 3 the Chihuahua witch.

Here is number 4 the Terrier Red Baron.

Here is number 5 the pirate doxie.

I hope everyone will vote. I will leave the voting open till Halloween night than I will total all votes and post the winner. I will also post the picture of the dog that came in first at the parade. I know there are alot of more important things to be voting on but I thought this would be a fun contest.