1998

I was supposed to write this earlier. Tonight's program focused on the year 1998. WTG Timmy!! That was quite an active year for me!! That was the year I "rediscovered" INXS for the first time in like 4 years, I still felt bad because Michael died, and one of the best ways I could think of to remember him by was to name one of my pups after him. I got a blue heeler puppy in June of that year, and I named her Hutchess. Yep, after Michael. Unfortunately, like Michael, Hutchess died too early in her life too. I only got to enjoy her for one week, then she succumbed to parvo. She was the sweetest puppy too! Blue heelers have always been one of my favorite breeds. I had an older one that passed shortly before I got Hutchess, that one went from old age.

I remember after Hutchess died, I had a terrible time getting over losing her, pretty much like when I lost Groucho. I dealt with losing Hutchess by writing about my experiences with her. We did have one wonderful week together. So I put that in a book and titled it "Hutchess, A Picture Diary". One of my best methods of getting over something is to write about it, and so that was my tool for getting over Hutchess. It turned out to be a good, dramatic story. So that is why I am offering it on my site. That was also the point where I learned how very useful INXS's music and videos would become to me. Listening to their music made me feel good, and seeing them on video, especially Michael's singing and Tim's clowning around, made me feel better! I also recently wrote a story about Groucho, but I don't know. I was a younger woman when I lost Hutchess. It was easier then to just pick up the pieces and learn to live without her. I was older and much more prone to depression when I lost Groucho.

There were quite a few celebrity deaths that year. Cher wrote an album and the same year her former husband Sonny Bono passed away. You know my ma told me that Cher held me in her arms when I was a baby. I was about 2 years old and we lived in LA at the time. Ma worked for the mayor, and the mayor loved her so much she was invited to a private party at the mayor's home. A lot of celebs were there, but the biggest names I remember ma mentioning were Sonny and Cher. Ma took me with her because pa was in the field and Anna was in school and ma couldn't get a babysitter fast enough. I was too young to remember any of that. In fact, I completely forgot it until ma told me the story again one day at work back in 2001. I remember living in LA, and going through there back in 2005, some things actually refreshed my memory. But not much. Anyway, that year, Cher released the song "Believe". I kinda wonder if she wrote it in honor of Sonny, because she mentions "Do you believe in love after life?" Tonight's show was a good one!