Grateful, Grateful, Grateful

[Shoney & Ruby]

 

It is easy to be to grateful about the excitement of a new puppy.

 

This year with its extremes of sadness and joy, I’m grateful for love, friends and the community to share it with.

 

January brought us the sudden, unexpected death of my mother-in-law. A reeling shock that spun the year into a wild and unpredictable trajectory.

 

After the blur of the funeral, the immediate need was care for my father-in-law, a small town doctor who did everything from delivering babies to removing bullets. A board-certified surgeon. A WW2 Vet.  Suffering from early stage dementia.  Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine we would bring him to Boulder so far away from his lifelong home. But we did. And I’m so grateful now we can see him daily. To see him making friends, cared for in a safe, beautiful place.

 

From January to June, we made at least a dozen trips to Lone Pine, CA [population 2000, at the base of Mt. Whitney, highest peak in the lower 48 states].

Cleaning out a house where my in-laws lived for 55 years. I’m grateful that we got to see their lives as reflected in the hundreds of letters and photo albums, antique furnishings, stacks of music, trunks of medical instruments, detailed needlework. Their extensive library, which reflected their deep love of learning. It is an intimate act, going through everything a person owned, saved, treasured over a lifetime. I am grateful that we did this work, which deepened my respect for, and love of them.

 

In July we got married, a joyful reprieve from months of intense grief and hard work, grateful to be surrounded by our family and friends.

 

Now, in these weeks waiting for our puppy Ruby, we share photos of her with a growing number of new friends at the assisted living residence. Every day someone, in a wheelchair, using a walker, who can’t remember where her room is, grabs my arm to ask; do you have your puppy yet? Can we see her pictures? When will we get to meet her? I show them the photos on my phone. They laugh and smile and hit the screen. Everyone looks forward with us.

 

We hope Ruby will be a therapy dog. We’ll start by bringing her to the center for “Puppy Time.” 5-10 ten-minute sessions with a small group of seniors to get her used to the walkers, wheelchairs, and oxygen tubes. The smells. We hope everyone will benefit. We think Ruby will be grateful for this love and attention too.

 

On Thanksgiving we ate lunch with my father-in-law and his new friends. He was happy. The women at the table raised their glasses to us and said they were grateful to be our friends.  We raised our glasses back. We are grateful, grateful, grateful.

[Lynda Kamrath]

How's it going?  Do you have Ruby yet?

[Lucy , Alex and Madison]

What a lovely blog. I am also new to DK and exploring my way through it and making friends.

We rescued Madison at 5 months. My parents are both in a home for alzheimers and we are grateful for the great care they receive.  Our wheaton terrier had a stroke at age 12 the day after thanksgiving we put him to sleep.  Losing him was like losing a family member, we were devastated.  Now we have this sweet excitable mini goldendoodle and we are happy again.

I visited my mom during holidays and saw a family visiting with their dog and I found it the facility encourages this.

Next visit we brought Madison and she was  the talk of the home!  It was great to see her give joy to so many people and she loved the attention.  Other residents shared their pet stories which made me feel we were giving and getting friendship with a common bond.

looking forward to more such visits!

Thank you for your inspirational discussion

Lucy and Madison. 

[Janie, Jackson and Jilly]

I so enjoyed reading your beautiful words. Thank you for sharing! I'm looking forward to hearing more about Ruby and seeing photos of her with her new friends! And congrats on your wedding!!

[DJ & Chance]

What a wonderful blog. Love your outlook on life.

[Robin and Libby Louise]

Thank you for sharing - so sorry about your mother in law.  You did a wonderful thing for your father in law, and I look forward to seeing photos of him with Ruby!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Shoney,

What a lovely blog. You are definitely a glass-half-full girl and see the good in everything and everybody.  I am looking forward to you getting Ruby also. I am sure she will become just the dog you want her to be.  My dh and I go through Lone Pine several times a year on our motorcycle trips.  We have found it to be a lovely small town.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Shony ~ I enjoyed reading your beautiful heartfelt blog and I am so sorry for the loss of your mother-in-law.  I have a feeling your New Year is going to be filled with lots of sweet doodle kisses fom that new little girl of yours!  Looking forward to seeing lots of photos.  

[F, Calla & Luca]

What wonderful sentiments. Looking back and looking forward in a loving way!

[Lynda Kamrath]

What an inspirational blog.  Sorry about the loss of your MIL, but sounds like your FIL is where he should be right now.  We have definitely been through it with our parents as my FIL is 99 and my mother is 98 years old.  His sight and hearing are going and her memory has it's moments, but they are both in the type of facility they need.  He lives in a senior residential facility and she is in assisted living.  There are only five residents at her facility and I go there frequently and do arts and crafts with them.  They know all of my dogs  and I have even left a dog there while I run an errand.  My mom sits and holds their leash and gives me a report on their behavior when I return.  Sometimes the owner takes them for a walk.

Make sure your puppy gets lots of experiences and meets lots of people right from the beginning.  It will work out for everyone and will be a great experience in sharing.  Keep us informed here at DK.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Shoney, 

What a great reflection and something many of us have felt but could  not express.  To that which is gone but now a great memory to this new life coming to you in a bundle of fur, I'm grateful you wrote!  Looking forward to many more upcoming stories.