12-23-2006, 04:22 AM
If I had a dime for every time my little nephew (3yr old) said "lets feed fishies" or "look turtle's hiding" or "where's froggie" I would be rich. He was born loving animals and the outdoors, just like his daddy. I have never seen him more excited than when he is out next to the pond. 
Every time I go visit, he takes me outside to show me how the koi have grown. He insists I join him in finding "yucky worms for the fishies". So there I am, digging in the dirt with him. 
My baby niece is just as he was when he was her age. Her crying always stops when you take her out to the pond and she sees the bright colors of the koi and hears the water trickling down the tiny waterfall.
Unfortunately, the poor pond needs sooooo much work.
Because of its poor construction, it requires constant maintenance, which requires a lot of time - which neither my poor brother, nor my sister-in-law have! I remember when my brother was deployed to Iraq, I would drive over an hour just to help my sister-in-law with cleaning the pond.
Now my brother is in law enforcement, but works long hours while my sister-in-law works HER long hours trying to juggle a teaching day care, keep all their pets in good health, keep the house from falling apart, and manage to spend a waking hour with her husband. I can't believe how they have managed to keep this going. If it had been MY pond, I would have given up a long time ago!! It would have been too much work for me - and I'm single and have no kids!! They work soooo hard to keep this pond-dream alive.
Any person can tell, just by looking at the pond, that it is in DESPERAT need of a make-over. But more importantly, anyone who knows them can tell you that no other family is more deserving.
It has always been my brother's dream to have a big, beautiful pond full of koi and turtles and plants and waterfalls... My sister-in-law has always made every effort to help him make his dream come true. With my niece and nephew now adoring the pond, it's become a family dream. Every Christmas, forget the toys and essentials, the wish list is all about the pond. The only time I see my brother completely relaxed is when he's sitting by the pond. It's as if nothing else exists...
It would be a dream come true for them to have this make-over. They may not have time or money to take vacations, but to them, just sitting out there, all together, enjoying a beautiful pond of their dreams is a vacation in itself...
They have always had to work so hard for every little thing they have, it would be so nice to finally see them get such a wonderful gift... their dream come true.
Every time I go visit, he takes me outside to show me how the koi have grown. He insists I join him in finding "yucky worms for the fishies". So there I am, digging in the dirt with him. My baby niece is just as he was when he was her age. Her crying always stops when you take her out to the pond and she sees the bright colors of the koi and hears the water trickling down the tiny waterfall.
Unfortunately, the poor pond needs sooooo much work.
Because of its poor construction, it requires constant maintenance, which requires a lot of time - which neither my poor brother, nor my sister-in-law have! I remember when my brother was deployed to Iraq, I would drive over an hour just to help my sister-in-law with cleaning the pond. Now my brother is in law enforcement, but works long hours while my sister-in-law works HER long hours trying to juggle a teaching day care, keep all their pets in good health, keep the house from falling apart, and manage to spend a waking hour with her husband. I can't believe how they have managed to keep this going. If it had been MY pond, I would have given up a long time ago!! It would have been too much work for me - and I'm single and have no kids!! They work soooo hard to keep this pond-dream alive.
Any person can tell, just by looking at the pond, that it is in DESPERAT need of a make-over. But more importantly, anyone who knows them can tell you that no other family is more deserving.
It has always been my brother's dream to have a big, beautiful pond full of koi and turtles and plants and waterfalls... My sister-in-law has always made every effort to help him make his dream come true. With my niece and nephew now adoring the pond, it's become a family dream. Every Christmas, forget the toys and essentials, the wish list is all about the pond.
The only time I see my brother completely relaxed is when he's sitting by the pond. It's as if nothing else exists... It would be a dream come true for them to have this make-over. They may not have time or money to take vacations, but to them, just sitting out there, all together, enjoying a beautiful pond of their dreams is a vacation in itself...
They have always had to work so hard for every little thing they have, it would be so nice to finally see them get such a wonderful gift... their dream come true.