Natalie and Garfield was the first of what i plan to be a weekly pairing, that will be combined with a Magic SOAPbox /Meetmore Monday radio style internet show. Stay tuned and possibly try to download the Clubhouse app to your phone, and or add Fort Socs to your facebook. https://www.facebook.com/fort.socs

The plans for the Magic peace park are to share the love of pets past present and future in the hopes to create a more compassionate future for all creations. Yes, I am a bit on the crazy dreamer side, but if we share a common dream, it is all the more likely to happen. I have lots of stories, but grew up with other people's stories of pets and that was a huge reason for me wanting to have them in my life too. Each week, i plan to verbally share someone's story and picture of a pet then open it up for other people.

Thank you for letting me share this Natalie Bickert! He sounded like an amazing character...

Natalie Bickert and Garfield (as written and published on facebook by Natalie on July 11th, 2022 )

Yesterday, we lost our best cat friend, our beloved furry family member, Garfield. I am so thankful that the Lord allowed him to beat the odds and gave us more time with him. I am also so thankful that the Lord renewed his youth in the past couple of years and gave him a burst of energy, much like a kitten's, while he had diabetes, once he lost some weight.

Through prayer and God's grace, Garfield survived many close calls. He survived the trauma of smoke damage to our house about 9 years ago and having to live in a kennel for months, while we couldn't live in our home. Garfield survived about three years, if not longer with diabetes. Early in his diagnosis, He survived the loss of the use of his legs from the diabetes, as the Lord healed him from that. Last year he survived a very serious event, which we didn't think he would recover from. More recently, he beat the odds, after we were told there was nothing more the vet could do for him, when he was diagnosed with heart failure. I give God all the glory for this additional time we were able to spend with him. I treasured every last moment.

Garfield had a fiesty, but loving spirit. He loved to cuddle and he was very loyal. He took care of me and checked on me often, after my knee injury. He also wouldn't leave my side, while I recovered. As well, he was always by my son's side whenever he was experiencing bad headaches. This may have been his way of demonstrating his appreciation for our efforts to take care of his diabetic needs. He was a very good sport about getting poked with insulin needles and having his blood tested daily and rarely complained. He definitely suited his name and loved food, from popcorn to fruitloops. So, we could never leave any food out or he would be into it, in a flash. He was also quite the goalie and blocked the ball from getting in the goal post, when we played.

In his younger years, Garfield was a hunter and would spend his days hunting for his family. He often left me not so nice gifts on the back porch. He loved to be called kitty-boy and loved to march to bagpipes. He loved many different genres of music. He even liked to listen to me sing him lullabies. (I don't know why)

Though he was most definitely a cat, he acted much like a dog. I believe this was because when we were first gifted with him, our dog Fudge allowed him to suckle on her, as he was still young. Garfield often waited for us to come home and would greet us at the door. Fudge and Garfield were very close, so when we lost Fudge after the fire, Garfield grieved. Kitty-boy was very smart and understood a lot of the English language. Also, because of his unique personality, he was loved by many and had many friends.

Later, Garfield had a girlfriend. He made a new friend with a very petite Tabby and they spent time on our patio together. They enjoyed playing together and chasing each other. However, when Garfield was diagnosed with Diabetes, he could sometimes get cranky and they broke up. However, she still often comes looking for him. (He was quite handsome).

When Cola first arrived in our home, Garfield was territorial and swatted her often. Later, they tolerated each other and then developed a bit of a friendship, or at least shared the couch.

There will never be another cat like Kitty-boy. R.I.P. Garfield. We hold you close to our hearts and love you. You have been an amazing friend and family member. I am happy you now can be with your Buddy Fudgie once more.. Until we meet again, snuggle with Fudge, chase those butterflies and run through fields of grass again.

cat photo above is by Natalie Bickert of A-1 Photographic Images

This picture is of Candy and I back when i was in high school! It is basically the second pairing from the Magic SOAPbox Mondays... it was getting to be too much work to get permission and record other folk's story. I have a strange combination of ambition and laziness. I figure to set the stage and share a bit more raw to how our pets can live forever. Embarrassing in some ways, but serious as a heart attack in others- preventing one that is... my own! More like just trying to put the passion out there in a non threatening way. The past is the past.. we can learn from it and help ourselves and others avoid some dangers and see another side to the pains we will sometimes feel.

I am lucky to have had several amazing dogs.. but Candy will always be that first running buddy and "protector". I have a big stuffed bear that was given to me several years ago that I call "Candy" after her. It acts as a memory of her and a guarantee of bear sightings when people come to visit!

Candy! She was from the SPCA and about 10months when we got her. Always thin, she loved to run with me, or when I was riding the horses. She lived to be about 16. Not bad... wish I had been there for her when she passed, but we spent many great times together riding, camping, and running. You don't get much more loyal that her. No idea what her first 10months were like, but I know that she loved her life at Mandy and Me.

I left her to rest at a site overlooking the Okanagan lake and the orchard where we had done so many runs and rides around. I called her resting place Candy Canyon.

It was literally decades ago that she died. She died in Dec of 1995. Over twenty five years ago.

in January of 2015.. i had the following exchange around Candy's picture memory on facebook

I find myself reflecting back that that time a lot these days. It was a pretty crazy time for me too.

Time heals a lot of pain.. I have two great canine companions now.. had two amazing ones before them too that each died around 14/15 years of age too.

I wasn't there, but from what I hear, she died pretty peacefully. She really was amazing.. I don't think she had one vet bill other than her shots and worming.

Allison Mayo said

It's Candy!! I loved that dog!

· 6y

(me)

do you have any particular memories of her?

Allison Mayo

Yes she came with us on every ride and used to play with the coyotes.

Zig zag zig zag through the horses

(me)

My favorite set of memories: first she runs home when she sees a coyote; then she runs between the horses (pretty sure coyote did too) and then runs home. Next time I see her with a coyote around she is chasing the coyote while carrying a stick in her mouth! Never worried about her after that.

Pretty sure that she figured it was her job to protect us all. I like to thing she still is.

Allison Mayo

Yes she was friends with that coyote. Ha ha awesome dog. I'm sure she still does

·

It was nice seeing Allison a few days ago. So full circle.. she has a dog that is a similar size to what Candy was and her dog Frida had gone missing last week. I was helping look for Frida when i saw her for the first time since our trailriding days together when i was in high school. I wanted to revisit our mutual Candy memories so was able to dig that little dialogue up. That is how special Candy was- i wanted to saved it for me to add to another day. BTW, Ally found Frida on the 7th day missing.

Candy was so amazing. I'd like to share a couple more memories of her. When we first got her, it was the summer of my 14th birthday. I had had one horse, shelimar, for 2 years and we had brought 2 yearlings and the mother of one of the yearlings to Kelowna with us from Saskatchewan. The mother was an appaloosa named Dibs, her daughter Breeze was the one yearling and the other yearling was the Mandy who Mandy and Me Trailriding would be named after.

This was the first summer that i was to live where my horses were. I liked to hike as well as ride. We lived on Mout Swite which has Bear Creek running along the southern side of it. Bear Creek, at it's closest, is about a km from where i lived. I spent a lot of time hiking along that creek with Candy in addition to camping next to it, fishing or panning for gold in it, and riding or running along it. There literally was a riding trail just outside our property. When we were first driving up and getting close to where the acreage was, I still remember that i was annoyed about how close to town we would be living. I had hoped to live in the boonies! In reality, i would never have had access to the great coaches and recreational facilities. It was pretty close to the perfect blend of country and city. I did often walk about 2 miles to the bus stop until there came a point that i had a car so could drive to school and be able to get home from my track/ field hockey/ soccer/ or cross country practices. My neighbors would sometimes give me rides which was how i got to know some of them and some still live in the area. Ironic that there is a bus stop literally at the base of that property now, but the walk helped me get in shape and it was something i enjoyed. It made me feel like i really did live in the country.

I would ask my parents to keep Candy tied up for a bit to give me a head start, and then i would run up the hill and climb a tree. She always found me. May sound pretty strange, but i had already set my goal of wanting to make it to the Olympics and this was probably my form of following my ambitions at the time. She found me every time.

To put perspective to this. My Olympic dream was in large part due to having lost a dog suddenly when i was 9. I was devastated and basically the only thing that kept me from thinking about her death, was the Olympics. That was the year Nadia Comaneci won gold. She had won in gymnastics with a perfect 10 and people from all countries celebrated her incredible performance... I am sure that i felt that great comradery and Olympic spirit through the tv. The year that Candy passed was around 1996. I had pretty much stopped running after a stress fracture in 1988 at the world cross country championships in New Zealand. I had had some great wins earlier in the year, but the frustration of injury combined with other things going on had me moving back to the Okanagan and evolving a highschool hobby of taking people trailriding into a career choice.

IN 1995/ 96, i had been getting in shape to compete again. I had full on faced non physical hurdles that had brought me down in the past-- Fears of publicity and public speaking. I had been doing toastmasters for over a year, i did some form of dancing with friends a few days a week most weeks of the year, was involved with the Chamber of commerce, was a member of the founding chapter of the Okanagan Jaycees and , was meeting people from around the world through the mostly tourism based trail riding business of Mandy and Me Trailriding. These social connections were in addition to getting to know many locals who helped or would ride regularly with or without formal memberships. It was also the time that i changed my name and a lot of people didn't understand. The reason i give this background is that i wasn't there when Candy died.. i had been in the hospital because some people were so worried about my mental health. I had talked a lot with some people about my wanting to change my name and had narrowed it down to Silverado from several options. People had known me by a name that was decently respected, why would i change it to something so strange? Truth is, i wanted a name that i felt better suited who I was and wanted to be.

in any case, I had a police man come to my door and want to speak to me. I didn't know that i had a choice and could have said i was fine. I basically knew what he was there for and started making arrangements for the next couple days. The reason i knew is another story or book and a half. In any case, I remember running down the circular stair case with the officer following me. I think i was answering a fax. Also from that officer visit, I will never forget how he looked at Candy and CHarming.. wondering out loud why Candy was so thin yet CHarming was fine (f not a bit on the chubby side). Candy would have been about 15 or 16 at that time and we figured she had cancer. I would spend Christmas in the hospital and have a really bad reaction to one of the drugs but be allowed to go home before the New Year. I remember because i went dancing at the OK corral! I am pretty sure that my wanting to dance in the New Year was what gave me the nerve to speak to the doctor to be released. I basically learned that they really couldn't keep me once i made it clear i felt ok to go.. I would get home to learn she had died and that it seemed that she looked for me before doing so. How do you give someone back that time?

I am pretty sure that i know who had called and that she did so in concern of my health and was willing to forgive them though it was my worst nightmare and i had told them as much before. I had replied to her that she wasn't my mom and i am sure i offended her because she had played a stable mom (pun intended) and been a great support in many ways. I know that she was concerned and had cared about me but just did not understand how much thought i had given to what i was doing. I was not a different person, i had only chosen a name that i felt better suited who i am and want to be. Candy understood.. animals don't judge us on our name or how we look. We can learn so much from them. RIP Candy....sorry I wasn't there for you, but thanks for having been there for me whenever you could be.

To put a more positive note to this. I had already qualified to go to Seoul to be part of an Ekiden road relay and i did an olympic distance triathlon, wining first in my category but ended up pretty much ending my running comeback. It was tough to run the business and be serious about running. I also wanted to do more on the motivational end of things to help others pursue their goals and be part of team doing this. So ironic that i didn't seem to have a team supporting my goals separate of Mandy and Me, but c'est la vie... or should i say that was another life... a huge chapter of my life was in Mandy and Me. I still aim to gather people supporting goals of helping people help themselves to fun, fitness and -self-fulfillment using music pets and people via Fort Socs. Maybe i am running / riding in circles still.. or maybe this is the year things will start to fly. I can always dream!!

Thanks for listening/ reading.

Cisco and Maria

Maria bought Cisco after having bonded with him over a year or two. I helped them move to the coast and visited a couple of times. She boarded him the first few years at a stables near the Cambell Valley Park and let me ride him there when i came to visit. She later gave me a letter saying that she found a place to live with the man of her dreams.. and then said it was where Cisco would be on the same property. He was the man she was referring too! She graduated from a horticulture school and started her own business, and did meet a great guy. They would create a home with Cisco and add some twin girls and a boy to their family.

Interestingly, I had been at rose valley for a hike or ride and had thought of how she had helped with clearing one of the trails there. We had reconnected after many years over a phone call earlier that year so i thought i should send her an email. I would get an e-mail from her husband a couple weeks later. Maria passed on that same Christmas day.. her daughters would call her a Christmas angel. She really is... I would visit her farm and family within the year and set up a friend to help them. My friend connected the girls a bit with some of the horses of Mandy and Me. Maria and Cisco will always be large parts of it!

Dita Strutt and Lucy Septemeber 24th , 2019

It is impossible to measure the support and joy a pet can bring through the years. Dita Strutt has been riding at Mandy and Me since the mid if not early 1990's. Her parents lived in the same area in the beginning of that period, so her husband and she started their visits and we soon learned we shared a great love of all pets. There would be a couple of years she would need to skip riding due to being pregnant but in time, the girls would join them in the rides. Hard to believe that the oldest girl is now in university! The last couple years would have the youngest daughter, Dita and their faithful puppy Lucy visit. Lucy would stay back while we rode but I believe always came out for their yearly visit to ride with us (there were a couple skipped years, but it was pretty near every year to visit us) and camp elsewhere over the Canada long weekend. We have become such good friends over these short visits, that i have gone to visit them a couple of times while on the way to the island.

Times can be challenging, but pets are champions for helping us recharge ourselves... a constant source of truth to what really matters in life. Lucy may have passed from the living but she is definitely worth a Magic star. Thanks Lucy for being a light thru challenging times and continue being bright star in her memories.

Trigger Joe and Linzy

Trigger lived from January 1987 to March 18th 2013.

The above picture is of Brad Barrett and Bojangles. Brad had helped with Mandy and Me in the early days by frequently riding with his family as well as helping. I remember him riding down to help clear the creek from bigger rocks that would have covered up the crossings we had. I had cleared the creek and was singing a newly made song when he met us. I was so embarrassed, but he said i was doing ok. We had reconnected in 2018 and he would tell me about a time when he was taking some tourists from Asia riding with his favorite horse Steel. Steel stepped on a wasp nest and put on a show for everyone. The guests were yelling ride em cowboy! Brad did not disappoint.. he stayed on and his cowboy hat didn't even leave his head. Hopefully one day we get a picture of Brad with Steel, but meanwhile, Happy Trails Brad!