REFLECTION
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Figuring out what I’m going to do with the rest of my life is no small task
Daisy, my nearly 17-year-old golden retriever, is lying on top of my left foot, as per usual when I’m seated. For her entire life, she’s never been more than four feet away from me, connected physically. This is why and how we fall in love with our dogs, especially the special ones. And Daisy is special. Like many golden retrievers and labs, she is totally dedicated to my safety, and the safety of others.
In Tahoe over the weekend, she spotted a kayak piloted by a man with a child, and grew immediately alert. I knew the look, and I knew she planned to rescue them. Or, she wanted to anyway. But her body is failing her. Her hindquarters are giving out regularly. She began collapsing for real just a few days ago, and we’re on the terrible slide to mercifully end her life. I can barely formulate the thought, let alone type the words. I’m not there yet.
I’m not there yet for many of the changes that are besieging me.
When my kids left for college, I boasted that I didn’t suffer from empty-nest syndrome, not at all! But now that they’ve both graduated college and are really and truly making their own lives, I’m anguished. The salt on the wound was the fact that my second…
