Sparky’s first book signing & Maxie flys to Arizona

Sparky's first book signing.   

Sparky was the cutest, and definitely the shortest celebrity at a recent Make a Difference fundraiser in support of the Ron Brown Scholarship Fund. 

On Tuesday this week a generous group of people gathered at Curtis and Ashley Blogins’ beautiful Villa la Bella B&B to raise money for the charity. Since its inception in 2010 the scholarship fund has helped seventeen island students to achieve degrees as veterinaries, dentists, graphic artists, engineers and many move occupations.

Richard Lock introducing some of the graduates of RBSF

This year Sparky and I received an invitation to participate with a book signing and a draw for the lucky person who will be ‘Killed Off’ in my Isla Mujeres Mystery Book #4. 

The lucky winner was Patti Packard. She will get a choice of being either a good person or a bad character in my next novel, due out late in 2018. (Book #3 Tormenta Isla is just a couple of weeks away from being published!)

Diego, Thomas and Lynda 

I was delighted to add a healthy donation to the fund on behalf of both myself and my friend Diego Medina. Diego is the talented illustrator of our bilingual book for children – The Adventures of Thomas the Cat / Las Aventuras de Tomas el Gato. We have been setting aside a portion of our book sales for the scholarship fund, and this was the perfect event to present the donation. According to Gwen Brown the fundraiser brought in a little over $8800.00 Canadian. All of the funds will be used for assisting students, nothing is spent on administrative costs.

Thank you everyone who made the event so successful. You can find out more about the Ron Brown Scholarship Fund at http://ronbrownscholarshipfund.org/ Please be sure you click on this link for information about the Isla Mujeres Mexico scholarship program as it is easily confused with the similar sounding name that supports students in Africa.

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The day after the fundraiser our other little pooch Max and I went on an odyssey to his new home in Arizona. As I mentioned in a previous blog, Lawrie has been diagnosed with a debilitating disease – PSP, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. The left side of his body doesn’t get the messages from his brain as quickly as the right side does. PSP creates serious stability and mobility issues for him.

Max waiting for boat ride to Cancun

Having two energetic dogs underfoot is too risky for Lawrie, and as much as we loved the fuzzy little guy Max had to find a new home. Fortunately for us our friend Janet Cummins sent our blog post to her friend Dianne in Arizona. Dianne Stocks who has had other rescue dogs, including her current beautiful girl Willow, agreed to adopt Max.

Wednesday was a tough day for Max and I. He left his island in paradise for the first time ever. Even though I have been giving him an anti-anxiety medication for a few days in preparation for the trip, riding on the Ultramar passenger ferry frightened him. But, by the time we got him loaded into the CARM van and headed to the airport he had stopped trembling and seemed interested in his new adventure. A special thanks to Denise and Mike Burton who helped me get from the boat to the CARM van on the Puerto Juarez side of the trip. Mike, you looked so handsome carrying my purse!

Max - keeping an eye on our wheelchair

At the airport the porters and wheelchair assistants were a huge help to us, bustling us to the head of the immigration line, the check-in line, then outside for a doggy pee break before he had to be surrendered to the baggage handlers. I had to use the wheelchair service because of course two days before I was due to make the trip my sciatica decided to act up, making walking or standing extremely painful. (Perfect timing!)

The American Airlines folks were delightfully kind and accommodating with Max and me. By the time we reached Phoenix he had adjusted to his international traveler status, and was doing just fine when I reclaimed him. My assistance wheeled us both out to meet Dianne and her friends, Laurie and Chris, who had come to pick him up. It was a very emotional meeting for me because I knew my time with Maxie was coming to an end, and Dianne because she was just beginning a new adventure with him. After tearful hugs and goodbyes I slipped away leaving Dianne to get to know her new guy better.  

Dianne and I at Phoenix airport

My return flight via American Airlines was just as easy and trouble free, only this time I was checking an empty dog travel case. That really confused everyone – porters and customs officers alike – wondering if I had an invisible dog. I had the same crew on the flight back to Cancun, and would like to mention Teri who took the time to make my return flight very pleasant and comfortable.

Back on Isla at the Ultramar ferry dock I was faced with a not too long, but still painful walk from the boat to the car park. I turned to one of the baggage handlers that I recognized and asked, “Would you give me and this empty dog cage a lift to the parking lot?”

He laughed and said, “Sure, hop on!”

I finished my two day odyssey riding on a diablito, Isla-style.

Willow and Maxie - worn out by excitement

I’m very happy to be back to Lawrie and Sparky. Thank you so very much to all of our friends and family who looked after my guys while Max and I were traveling. It’s the caring people around us that makes our lives so rich.

Our best wishes to Dianne, Willow and Maxie. We hope life is good to you as well.

Hasta Luego

Lynda & Lawrie

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Book #3 Isla Mujeres Mystery

Tormenta Isla 

Soon!