So.... it has been over a year since I have posted anything here. I thought maybe I'd use the new year as an excuse to try again.
It isn't that I haven't had things to write about; I just haven't followed-through with posting anything on here. 2013 was a challenging year (but really, aren't they all?!) and I just got caught up with living and not writing about it. So we'll see if 2014 is any different.
When I look back at 2013 what stands out the most are 3 major changes/losses; I had to say goodbye to my two sweet dogs, and there was a pretty major change in my mother's health with a series of small strokes that really effected my life by needing to help take care of her more.
Gomer - the beagle/ doberman mix - died in April, after a swift decline. Although in hindsight there were signs earlier, it wasn't until we returned from a spring-break trip that we knew he was sick. X-rays showed a mass in his lungs, and at the age of 12, any further diagnosis or treatment seemed cruel (it was either a fungal infection or cancer, and either of those things were going to be painful to treat and only prolong his life a very short time). We did what we could to help him enjoy his last few weeks, but it was tough.
Kinsey - the australian shepard/ old english sheepdog mix - lasted until December. Truthfully, at the ripe old age of 16 1/2, she would have kept going in a somewhat wobbly senile state, but I was going out of the country for 2 weeks and truly no one else could take care of her comfortably. For the last few months of her life I needed to carry her up and down stairs and pick her up often when she fell on smooth ground. She would bite at other people if they tried to pick her up, so it wasn't fair to them or her to leave her with someone else. She would still jump around happily (and then fall down) for food or some other memory and she continued to run in her sleep; but she didn't know where she was a lot of the time, and her legs just couldn't hold her up sometimes. She died very peacefully and was even running in her sleep again right until the end.
My mother spent most of the month of July in hospitals and rehab after having a series of strokes that began on July 2nd. I was scheduled to be out-of-town for most of that time, and it was a challenge to balance important time with my kids with helping to take care of my mother. It is still a challenge. I will write more about that in another post. The good news is that she is doing pretty well and the lessons I am learning are a blessing.
I can't promise that I will be more consistent about writing here, but I will take it one day and one post at a time. We'll just have to see how it turns out.
I will end this one with another picture of that beautiful summer day in 2011 with the dogs... when they were both younger and healthier. We had a lot of good years with those two, and I still miss them.
RIP Gomer and Kinsey.
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