In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.” Francis Bacon.
Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve checked in, but i suppose that’s a good thing. We had a pretty bad day today, unfortunately. Our dog Beau died, and I’m really going to miss him, plus it’s pretty hard on both my Mom and my Dad. We only had him for three years, and he’s one of the ones my Mom rescued from being euthanized, but we sure liked having him around. Even though he couldn’t really walk very well, he was a real character, according to my Mom. But, as my Dad says, in the end, we did right by him, and that extra three years he had was filled with a lot of love. My Mom says you just can’t put a price on that.
It’s been crazy busy around here with the Summer of Lincoln being in full swing and all. I’m all done with chemotherapy, which evidently is a big thing, but passed me by with no aplomb at all. The one thing I did hear the humans mention is that my chest x-rays are “all clear”….what ever that means. If it leads to me spending more time swimming, then rock on, but otherwise it’s all greek to me.
Also, my three month life saving anniversary passed by with nary a trill. I’m thinking it’s because I had the dreaded appointment at the vet to make sure my lungs were all good. My Mom was pretty uptight, and even though she says she isn’t superstitious, I beg to differ, and am inclined to think that it was like a no hitter in baseball…you don’t dare speak of it while it’s going on, lest you jinx the entire thing. So, despite the fact that it was front and center on everyone’s mind, the day came and went and nobody said a word until after we got the results of the x-rays. My Mom says we’ll have plenty to celebrate in the future, so missing one isn’t really that big of a deal.
But, the long and the short is that all is going great. As my Mom says (I think she’s trying to convice herself), “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.” Julian of Norwich. Despite the fact that I still have the big “C’, and that we are really missing Beau, we just have to believe that, and keep on keeping on.
And by the way, so far, the Summer of Lincoln ROCKS!! I run, I swim, I play, I hang in Man Camp, I go to the winery, I roll in the grass…the list goes on. Just so everyone knows, I don’t do all of that just for me. I do it for my Mom too. It never ceases to amaze me how somebody can be so tough and so fragile all at the same time. Even though sometimes I act like a simple dog, I NEVER forget that I have a purpose, especially now, when she really needs me. And no, it’s not just to swim, it’s to remind my Mom that it’s safe and right and brave to live and love with abandon…no matter what tomorrow may bring, we all have to be able to say, with absolute certainty, “I loved them unconditionally and without hesitation, and that love was returned tenfold.” I can say that without a doubt. Can you?
