Mom and Dad

I'm really excited about Mom and Dad coming for a visit next week. When we moved from Seattle to San Francisco a couple of years ago, we moved away from my parents. We pretty much always got together for all the holidays and birthdays and family barbeques and games in between all of the above, so I miss them a lot sometimes.

It will be fun to show them around our new place and have them exclaim their approval on everything we have done with our remodel. Mom and Dad are nice that way!

Raining Cats and Dogs

Speaking of dogs, Blackjack is naughty about not going out to do his business when it is raining. I usually find a mess somewhere. How could such an innocent face be so sneaky?

Sophie

My sweet little Sophie had doggie breast cancer. At least I hope that it is past tense. The vet said the "margins" on the sample that he sent to the lab were clear, so hopefully he got all of it.

I love Sophie so very much! She is 13 years old now and I sometimes wonder how much time we have left together and then I can't bear to think about that. She is getting hard of hearing and can't see very well anymore, but she is just as cuddly and sweet and precious and devoted as ever.

There is a profound poem for anyone who has ever dealt with pet grief or just want to treasure the short time they know is a reality when a pets' life-span is shorter than our own.

"We who choose to surround ourselves

with lives even more fragile than our own,

live within a fragile circle,

 easily and often breached.

 Unable to accept its awful gaps

 We still would live no other way."

Irving Townsend

In the meantime, Sophie is sleeping softly on my lap and I am enjoying every moment that I am blessed to have this special little gift. I think it might be mutual!

Donna and Sophie