Today is my dad's birthday, in Heaven.  He went on to his new life on March 5th, 2016, in the minutes after midnight, following the end of his birthday.  I was so relieved that he made it to 89.  I thought he would have been proud to be remembered as living to 89 instead of giving up just before, at 88.  He always said that with a new birthday you start your next year.  We never count the first year of our lives; we only turn 1 after having lived a whole year, so at 1 we are living our 2nd year.  So, dad was living his 90th year.  He will be remembered by so many who will cherish his wisdom and humility, his loyalty and forever generous help and service to others. 

He planned for my sister and I to give his service graveside at the cemetery where he would be at rest next to his parents in the family plot.  We had gone on so many trips to visit their graves.  The last time up there, he laid down next to his mom's side of his parents' grave and said, "This is where I'll be."  He knew it was coming and seemed at peace. 

His last year was not what he had hoped for.  His greatest end-of-life wish was to be with one of his children.  His son had died the year before, and my sister was moving back to Arizona.  I was glad for him to come live out here at the farm.  We'd had so much fun over the years since I moved back here from Arizona.  Well, I shouldn't say it was "fun" exactly; it was a lot of hard work!  *Thank you, Dad.*

Dad had supported me in my decision to move back.  The company I had been working at for so long in Arizona was closing, being sold to a large corporation and the owners were retiring.  I was offered a position with the new corporation and needed to move to Seattle to serve the PNW.   I was thrilled at the opportunity and had been a longtime fan of the entire area - the ocean life, the weather, the people, mountains and national parks...   

But to sell my home was the problem.  I was living in what I considered my dream home, sitting on the top of a cul-de-sac with the fan shaped lot, a big back yard full of shade trees, a peach tree, birds, grass, a bb court on the east side, bougenvillas, desert landscaping in the front, 3 covered patios with flower lined walkways on a drip system for enjoying the outdoors with protection from the Arizona sun.  It was all I wanted.  How could I leave?

Well...  My Alcaca Adventure had just started.  I had just gotten married.. My then-husband had also grown up in Iowa and hated everything about Arizona.  He hated Arizona as much as I loved it!, lol.  Who wouldn't love all the beauty available for day trips to vacations, all across the state and along the west coast, from Hawaii up the coast to B.C. and inland to the sprawling national parks?  If I hadn't moved to Arizona I would have missed it all.  

And I would have missed meeting my best friend, my bff.  We were single gals getting started in life when we met at work, and we were buddies in no time.  We've been best friends for forty years.  It's been hard living two thousand miles apart since I went on my Alpaca Adventure.  But the internet, texting and Facebook, has kept us in touch.

I made the tough decision to move back to Iowa instead of taking that job in Seattle.  I figured I could visit any place but there were only 2 places I should live, Arizona or Iowa, by my dad or my best friend.  With dad turning 80, and possibly needing my help soon enough, I decided I had better start my new chapter in Iowa.

My ex had introduced me to alpacas a few months before, and had talked me into investing in them.  As an accountant, I could easily see they were overpriced.  I had always been conservative with my money, always living below my means, as simply as possible, so life was without stress or worries.  But when I married this man who I met on the Catholic match site, it was the biggest goof of my life.  He was not as he presented himself, and he rushed me down the aisle before I could catch my breath.  He saw an opportunity to use me to get back to Iowa and he took it.

I was born an animal lover, so it was easy to fall in love with cute alpacas.  The new husband was trying to convince me to buy a business in Iowa and move back.  No way.  I made him promise to be open minded about Arizona and live there 5 years before making any changes.  Then he came home one evening and said,  "Have you ever heard of alpacas?  A guy at work is looking into purchasing some. They are really cute."

Well, I was intrigued.  So I delved into the Alpaca World - head first, not thinking through having to change everything about my wonderful life if I were to buy alpacas - a farm - the barn, equipment, constant searching for hay and feed, running lines to install and repair spigots &  automatic waterers, searching for hard-to-find vets for their health, needing honest workers, starting a website and actually SELLING the offspring.  Not to mention figuring out what to do with their prized luxury fleece!  But they sure were cute. 

I did travel around the country to the top farms and vet schools attending seminars on everything from herd health to farm setup to marketing to alpaca selection to birthing & cria care & beyond...

I was pretty well equipped to buy my first alpacas.  I selected them very carefully.  Researching intensely, studying the bloodlines and offspring, choosing on the criteria I had set.  It was a huge financial investment and a huge responsibility to the animals who would be in my care. 

These first purchases were my foundation, and I intended for them to be safe in their forever home with me.  That is how it's ended up.  My first alpacas have lived their whole lives here, never wanting for anything I couldn't provide. 

I promised my first lady, Almond Joy, that she would never have to leave her home here, and thank God I could fulfill that promise.  She came here not knowing what was next, after being sold and trailered all around the country, re-establishing herself into new herds with each new birth, her baby at side.  She came here with her new son, lived happily long lives, and they have just recently passed on to glory.  It has broken my heart, but when you have others depending on you, you swallow your hurt and keep going, every day, one foot in front of the other.

Dad was happy that I came home to Iowa.  I blew through my retirement savings fast, and work in my area earned me a fraction of what I would have earned in Arizona.  The decision I made to move here and to live on this farm was made based on loyalty to family.  I was here for DAD and made a home for the alpaca family.  

I left my ex husband behind because all he wanted was for me to sell the alpacas I had just paid for.  I am not an animal flipper.  He wanted access to that money, turning it from my individual savings to marital property, of course.  Our brief marriage was a complete disaster.  I stopped right there, having lost my house and money, but I knew enough to stop the bleeding.

So I regrouped, found my farm quickly and put together a nice safe place for alpacas.  I had bought my first 3 and boarded them while moving to Iowa to set up the farm.  I bought 2 more while at a show in Kansas, crazy I know, and there was no turning back.  3 more purchased, and they all arrived the day before my birthday that winter.  I broke out crying happy tears when I saw the trailer coming around the bend.  Thanks to my dad and my friends for helping me along the way, they were home.  No one does something this impossible without help.

With the births that came along, I have raised 23 now. 17 are still living, from age 21 down to 8, the last breeding - the top breeding I had planned and bred up to. 

Almond Joy died at 24 last summer, right before the horrible heatwave came.  She always hated the heat, and had battled mouth cancer for years, so I could be glad she decided it was time to lay down her last before that excruciating heatwave hit... and lasted so long.  She rests in the middle of all the alpacas where she can see all that goes on.  She was their Matriarch, the best teacher and protector I could have found.  Hugs to darling Momma Almie...  She leaves behind her daughter Shanti and sons D'Amante and Captain.

I have never sold anyone.  When I found out in the early years about how they can end up in terrible situations over their long lives, killed for their meat or put in back yards without proper nutrition and care, I could no longer trust that they would end up living their lives out safely away from here.  I know there are others like me, and we all keep our alpacas as long as we possibly can.  They are family.

I've sure had fun taking them to shows, bringing home ribbons, meeting other farms, sharing our stories, entering fleece shows, preparing the beautiful fleeces, selling the products, having open farm days.  The alpaca lifestyle has its ups and downs, but mostly ups.  Only the weather is really an obstacle to fun.

I do have a tiny regret.  I wish I could have found a wonderful home for my sweet youngest ones, especially Assisi - the ones I bought the parents and bred up to - the "pinnacle" ones, so gorgeous.  So far, that great new home hasn't come forward.  Rudy and Assisi, my heart babies, may be here always, with no babies of their own.  But that's not much of a regret!  I adore them.

Everyone must decide their steps in life based on their individual priorities.  It's all that gives our lives meaning.  Sometimes we get off course.. Yes, it probably seems crazy to see me keeping these alpacas going into my 70s and 80s.  It has a financial struggle when I would have had it easy in Phoenix.  But I'll be here caring for them as long as I can.  My youngest being only 8, I just hope I live long enough to see them all through.

A Happy Birthday Wish to my dad in Heaven.  He left us 8 years ago and it seems much longer for all the time we have missed.  We had a lot of fun.  After working on the pastures with me, re-siding the barn along with my friends, he came out on most Tuesdays to help around the farm, work on this old farmhouse, keep me cheered up, giving me something great to look forward to.  He is so very missed.

Thanks for Everything, for being You, I love you, DAD.