Sweet Sara Bear

Sweet Sara Bear

Shortly after Kelley and I started dating, she invited me to her house. As soon as I got in the door this pretty little dog started waving at me with her two front paws. I sat down and started petting her. I fell in love that day. I guess it was about a week or two later that I fell in love with her mommy too.

The little dog's name was Sara Lynn. She was a mix between a Poodle and a Pomeranian. We called her a Poodle-pom.

My wife adopted Sara when she was just a puppy 4 years before I came into the picture. Sara had a brother who was adopted at the same time by Kelley's dad and step-mother. His name was Jack and since we lived just a few miles from her parent's, the canine siblings were able to visit each other often.

Sara took to me right off and she was very good with Lyssa, my 4 year old daughter from my previous marriage. Kelley has always said that Sara was the reason that she decided that I was the one for her and I believe it. Sara was always a good judge of character.

She was a great little watch dog, too. She always let us know when someone was at the door and kept people at a safe distance if she thought that they were getting too close to her family. On two occasions, she tried to save us from skunks and both times she was sprayed. The first time it was just her and it wasn't too bad. The second time, the skunk sprayed into our house and got Sara right in the face. Our whole family smelled like skunk for a week or two that time.

I remember as we got to know each other and I spent more and more time at Kelley's house, I would let Sara stay in bed and watch TV with us. It wasn't long before she was sleeping between us every night, when before, she slept in the kitchen. Kel said I spoiled her but I know she liked having her there, too.

Hilton Head Island Beach where Sara played

One summer after we were married,  we took a trip to Hilton Head Island, SC to visit Kelley's aunt. We took Sara along and she took her first swim in the Atlantic Ocean. She went to the beach a few times with her on that trip and she seemed to enjoy it very much.

On another family vacation, Sara went with us to Chicago and on to Indiana to visit relatives. on the way there, we stayed at a hotel where no dogs were allowed. We snuck her up to the room in a book bag through a back door. We were laughing and giggling as we made our way to our room but Sara didn't make a sound at all. She might have barked a few times while were were at that hotel, but no one ever said anything to us. It was quite an adventure and we will remember it always.

Sara was there throughout Kelley and I's courtship, our marriage, and the birth of our youngest daughter, Hannah. She enjoyed a very happy and healthy life but the last year or two she became frail.

We made the heart-wrenching decision to put her down this year. She was the queen in our house for 19 short years and we miss her every day.

We miss you Sara Lynn Hoffman !!

Hello World

Hello world!

Hello. My name is Mark Hoffman. I am 45 years old and I live in Edmond, OK. I am a father and a husband. I am a Certified Family Life Educator and a Certified Case Manager. My Family Life Educator certification is through the National Council on Family Relations and I have been certified since 2003.  My Case Management Certification is through the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. I currently work as a Case Manager for mental health consumers at a mental health center in Oklahoma City.

I am looking forward to blogging about anything that I think is interesting.

Respecting Our Community

Respecting Our Community

Over the years, I have been continuously perturbed by the general lack of concern that I have seen from my fellow Oklahomans in regards to the growing amount of litter that we are allowing to accumulate on our streets, roadways, parking lots, and even our own front yards.
Here in central Oklahoma, we are fortunate to have organizations such as Keep Oklahoma City Beautiful and Keep Edmond Beautiful in which many caring and energetic citizens unselfishly take time out of their busy schedules to help clean up our cities, towns, and countryside several times a year. What is unfortunate is that there are far too few volunteers for these groups.
I’ve always promised myself that I will join one of these organizations but I haven’t yet. I have however; come up with my own way of making a difference. Every other week-end or so, I clean up trash along the roadway that runs in front of our rural neighborhood. I also keep it mowed on both sides of the road. This is something I do because I enjoy it, it’s good exercise, and like many of our citizens, I get tired of seeing trash flying out of people’s car windows and truck beds and ruining the beautiful community that I call home. As I am cleaning the road-side, I often notice how people look at me as they drive by. Most people simply drive by and don’t even notice me. Then there are those who wave and smile. I even got home one day to find a note on my door from a neighbor telling me that she and her husband did notice my work and wanted to tell me how much they appreciated my efforts to keep our neighborhood clean. It was not a major award presented at a huge ceremony but it made me feel like I was making a difference. It made me feel good. I hope that those folks who do take notice of my work will take my lead and begin taking an active role in keeping our neighborhoods clean and beautiful.