Saying goodbye

We have learned lately that there is little limit to the amount of change that a day can bring. Less than twenty-four hours and our lives have been changed forever.

I used exactly this title five years ago when we had to say goodbye to Diamond, and now we lost have another beloved member of our family in saying goodbye to Moose. He'd been getting old, but the loss was still sudden. He woke up yesterday acting a little under the weather, and by midnight he seemed to be suffering from vertigo, but after an emergency vet visit first thing this morning, we learned that a cancer, which we weren't aware of, had caused sudden catastrophic damage. And again, as with Diamond, we found ourselves having to make the decision to let him go.

We had twelve wonderful years with little Moose, and not one of them would we trade for relief from the sorrow we feel now.

 

We remember.

It has been very hard for us to want to update the blog, as though moving Diamond's goodbye entry from the prime spot might take her even farther from us.  It has been a hard week for us, though each day does get better than the last.  We have shared a lot of memories with each other, like the time she broke through the screen door (without her wheels) at the apartment and "ran away" while chasing another dog, and when Cortney finally got to her the man standing nearby was on the phone with the police who were offering to send a patrol car to get us to the vet in a hurry (try explaining over the phone that the dog that just ran away is not injured but paralyzed...).  And we remember all of her antics in the car on our way to California and back (let alone her antics outside of the car on our way to California and back), and the similar antics on our trip to Washington D.C.  We rmemeber her love for tennis balls, rawhides, and neck scratches, and of course the walks around the block, which entailed so much sniffing that we affectionately referred to them as "sniffs" instead of walks.  And as we remember these things, and so very many others, we realize that it is okay to update the blog because clearly she will always be with us in our hearts, and we don't need a blog entry for that.  But we still weren't quite there today, so this is another entry just for Diamond, and tomorrow, maybe, we will move on and write a letter to Calvin, who turned 10 months old today because the world does keep going on, even in the face of grief.

So this is another entry for you, Diamond.  We miss you dearly, we love you still, and we hope you are busy playing soccer just beyond the rainbow bridge. 

 

Saying goodbye.

Today we lost a beloved member of our family when we had to say goodbye to Diamond.  The past couple of weeks have been very difficult for us as we grappled with this decision, but in the end we know that it was the merciful and graceful thing to do;  her physical abilities had declined rapidly in the past few months, as we knew they would some day, and keeping her here with us any longer would have been selfish.
Diamond lived a very long and full life.  When she came into our lives the vets said she would not live more than a year, that her disabilities or our limitations would get in the way.  Since then she celebrated eight birthdays.  There is no way to sum up a life so richly lived, nor describe the courage with which she lived it.  Everything we gave her she gave us back a thousand fold in love.  No amount of time with her could have ever been enough, but we are thankful for the years we had, thankful that she met our son, and thankful for all the love she gave us.  
The vets nine years ago could not have been more wrong when they told us we would not have the strength to care for her special needs.  Keeping her alive was easy, it was letting her go that required all the strength we could carry.

If tears could build a stairway,
and memories were a lane,
I would walk right up to heaven
and bring you home again

 

Baby tested, dog approved

Today was a great day!  Our friends, mom Becky and baby Liesl, came over this afternoon to visit and to see Raspberry's room.  Since this was the first time any of our animals had even seen a baby we didn't know what to expect, but we are excited to say that all went very well!  Becky is a wonderful and relaxed mom who loves animals and wanted Liesl to meet dogs, so they even spent some time down on dog level, which seemed to please everyone.  Diamond was the least interested, quickly determining that babies don't scratch necks or hand out treats, Ollie was just Ollie, and Cookie was unconcerned (as is par for the course, we never saw Oahu).  Moose, on the other hand, was gentle but extremely intrigued.  When Liesl tried out our swing (which we are proud to say is assembled correctly, and was baby approved) Moose stood up on his hind legs and followed the swing back and forth.  When Becky tried out Raspberry's changing table in the nursery Moose was so interested that Jon held him up so that he could see, and Moose and Liesl carried on a light conversation (we think, although it was beyond our comprehension).  Of course at four months old Liesl is twice Moose's size, and probably about twice the size Raspberry will be when he first comes home, but we figure this is a good start.  Plus, Jon got to watch a diaper change and hold a baby for the first time, and our baby set up was tested and approved by a veteran first time mother and a baby.  Liesl was even entertained by the wallpaper animals on the nursery wall while she was being changed, which was exactly our plan.  Yeah!  Thanks Becky and Liesl!

A winter spa break!

Well, maybe not a real spa, but where we were was at least as good. We spent the past week at Aunt Lonnie's house, Cortney's Godmother, in Harbor Springs, and what a relaxing week it was. We shopped with aunt Lonnie for baby things in the quaint shops in Petoskey; were joined by Curtis and Patty the next day and had lunch at our favorite Petoskey sub bar, The Noggin Room; Were joined by Cortney's parents the next day and drove up to Mackinaw City for fantastic fried perch at the Keyhole bar, and picked up fudge and caramel corn while we were there; opened champagne and lots of hilarious gifts on New Year's Eve; rang in the New Year with Dick Clark wannabees; built a snowman (Curtis and Jon); enjoyed burgers at Bar Harbor in Harbor Springs; and drove to Bay Harbor for window shopping and ice cream; and spent plenty of "down time" reading, napping, and playing video games. Speaking of New Year's Eve - they added a leap second this year, did anyone notice? We're still trying to get acclimated... oh wait, maybe that's just the frustration of having to return to work, chores, and other duties after a week in a winter paradise.  Yeah, I guess that's it.

 Thank you again and again to Aunt Lonnie and to Cortney's mom and dad for a wonderful place to stay, for wonderful meals over and over, and for great company.

 Happy New Year to all!