One Dog

Blondie is dead. I miss her daily. Her best doggie friend lives with me now.

I am not on social media these days. I will return after I take care of some stuff.

sapphoq

Two Dogs

My faithful thirteen year old golden retriever/ husky/ border collie mix who was diagnosed in April with terminal liver failure is still very much alive and enjoying life immensely at this time. She is thriving on a prescription diet of canned venison and potatoes along with commercially available cans of lamb with gravy and pacific seafood. It turns out that my Blondie adores fish. This is something that I never knew about her until late this summer when she began refusing all things made with chicken, including boiled chicken that I was making for her myself in our kitchen.


As her illness progressed, Blondie also began refusing carrots, potatoes, cottage cheese, yogurt, and rice. We found that she would accept the canned deer food but not the wet chicken or duck from the same company. As her system calmed down with a med adjustment, she accepted low fat dog biscuits, plain bran cereal, and a rare lick of soft vanilla ice cream.


Blondie is now in hospice stages but doing well. She is sleeping more but still active. She loves her daily hikes in the woods and swimming in the local ponds and creeks. She will give chase to chipmunks and squirrels, play with local dogs, tangle with backyard skunks, and bounce along with richochet rabbit. [She and her best friend did both in one week in August].


Blondie's best doggie buddy-- an eight year old Australian Cattle Dog Hound Dog mix-- has recently come to live with us of her own volition. Both dogs have settled in happily together. Blondie and Hermione together make a fantastic duo in the woods. Together they have spent a happy summer and fall exploring the tantalizing smells in the nearby woods and swamps. They also participate in obedience together, car rides, trips to the pet shop, and visiting friends and family.


I regret that there are no photos today. My computer is not co-operating with the uploading of such. Perhaps next post.


sapphoq on life says: If you are not able to commit to walking a dog, spending time with a dog, and training a dog then please do not get a dog. Dog ownership is not for everyone. There is no shame in admitting that it may not be for you. Thanks!

The Grief Edumacation Group

     Since Dad died, I haven't really felt any agonizing grief or deep holes within. I do miss him. I also understand that he was done for long before he actually died. The Lewy Body Dementia in his brain dictated that to be so.

     I did have a month or two where I did sleep a bit more than usual. Yeah, I also respected my needs to be alone or to socialize. I did need a bit more solitude and so I stuck to smaller gatherings rather than parties. I wasn't in a party mood and that was fine.

     Three months and a few days out. 

     I've been to the grief support group at the hospice that meets monthly. It's a small group throughout the winter but nice.

     I saw that hospice was offering a six-week once-a-week grief education group so I signed up. I was expecting education. But it really wasn't.

     The composition of the group is made up of several siblings who lost a parent, several spouses, the moderator, and me. Tears and tissue boxes. And the sentiment expressed was, "It's nice to be with people who understand."

     I think I was the only one not crying out of the bunch.

     And although I am not a separatist of any description, I did learn a couple of things. When my mother buried my step-father and didn't tell me until two weeks later, I experienced "disenfranchised grief." And every once in a while, thinking that I don't have to rush back to check on Dad, that's called "adjusting to not having a caregiver role anymore." It's nice to have the word labels.

     And I really do like the Grief Education Group, in spite of the fact of it being somewhat mis-named. Just as well really. Had it been named something else like "Early Grieving Support Group" I would not have signed up. I reluctantly admit that the group is helping me. I'm not in the same place or even close by as the other folks in the group are. Then again, I've been pegged before with the "marches to her own drum" so this should not be a surprise. I do feel miles away in terms of where my grief is compared to that of the others there. Also not a news flash.

     There are differences in belief systems-- I don't have one-- to be sure. That much is evident by what other folks there talk about. I don't make an issue of my non-belief out in public unless someone is trying to convert me or verbally attacks me or asks me about my religious practices outright. There has been no reason for me to self-identify as an atheist at the grief group so I haven't.

     The similarities. I am the youngest one there. But not by much. We all say yes to coffee or hot chocolate or tea. None of us have touched the food brought in for us. We all speak English. [I don't know if anyone speaks other languages or not like I do]. All of us have experienced the death of a loved one since December 2015. All of our loved ones died with hospice services and supports. We are all human beings. That will have to be enough.

     Life is incredible. And I love living.

sapphoq on life