Lady Chelsea’s Quality Life!
By Dixie Marroquin and Carolyn Smith

Yesterday, I saw two fawns! I didn’t bark. I stayed quiet, moved stealthy, listened, smelled.  They saw me. They froze! Curious, just like me. Who are they?

I like to walk fast paced through the forest trail near my house. From my hilltop, I see Happy Valley in the foreground. The majestic and snowcapped Mt. Hood of the Cascades Mountain Range is in the background. So many colors of green! I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s so beautiful. And the stream flowing over the rocks is like listening to nature’s playlist of classical songs. Talking about songs there are two songs in my mom’s playlist on her computer at home: “Sweet Caroline,” by Neil Diamond and “Guadalajara” by Pepe Guízar.

My mom’s name is Carolyn. She was born in Yakima, Washington State, in 1921, just a few months after the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in the United States. Carolyn now lives in Oregon, on Mt. Scott, overlooking Happy Valley and Mt. Hood. She gets to see so much snow from all the windows in her house. Sometimes she quickly captures pictures of double rainbows and sends them via text message to her family, along with double pink heart emojis. She also loves dancing, moving her shoulders up and down, while she smiles like she is listening to music from the big band era. Carolyn is loving, caring, and dedicated. And, she has always enjoyed driving. Her husband was a Naval Airman, pilot who flew Douglas C-47, C-54, T-6 airplanes, the Stearman biplanes, and the PBY Catalina. Carolyn says that the PBY Catalina can land and take off from the sea. Carolyn is a great cook. She makes me fresh batches of homemade ‘din din’ with a recipe that one of her friends shared with her.

My name is Lady Chelsea. I was born in Lake Chapala, among Mexico’s largest freshwater lakes, Southeast of Guadalajara. In the dance to the song Guadalajara, dancers swirl and twist the long traditional Mexican skirts as though making waves. When I walk, I walk as though I am dancing. Lake Chapala is a great place, since there is good weather, everyone seems happy. But there are two downsides, the lake has suffered environmental pollution over the years, and a lot of dogs do not have a place to call home. Thankfully, community groups help dogs such as me find a home. That’s how I met Carolyn through miracles of friends helping us meet each other.

Carolyn had been praying for a ‘doggins.’ And I was praying for a home. After losing her loyal companion, Maya dog, two years ago, all Carolyn wanted was to get another ‘doggins.’ Carolyn says that Maya dog would sit by her and her friend John in the living room. When they did their morning devotional, she would look at them intently, listening to their words, prayers, and conversations as though she understood their words and prayers. Maya dog seemed to have had a great personality. She and Carolyn created good memories.

Maya wrote to Eggy a little over two years ago. She talked to him about the Wounded Warrior Service Dog Act that was being debated on Capitol Hill. I wanted to write to Eggy as well since writing is fun and relaxing.

Over the past one hundred years, Carolyn has lived through a lot. In her lifetime so much history has occurred -there have been various wars, the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, multiple floods, and droughts, she has witnessed a lot of developments in Art, Music, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. She has seen women have more opportunities to advance in various fields of interest.

A friend of Carolyn’s who lives in São Paulo, Brazil bonded with Carolyn over the fact that Carolyn had adopted me. Both women expressed how exciting and fulfilling the experience of adopting a rescue dog had been. Carolyn had prayed for a ‘doggins’ and next thing you know, one day, I was at the Lake in Mexico and the next day, I was in the Mountains of God’s Country, Oregon, enjoying nature and seeing advancements in research that makes our quality of life better through education.