The year started promising, then I lost my Dad in February and it's been downhill ever since.
Last week, we had to say goodbye to another member of our family, the little man that has been the one constant in our life for 10 1/2 years. When my wife was stationed at the Pentagon and lived in Gainesville, VA during the week (and came home on the weekends), Cooper kept her sane. That was a rough year, because it was also my first year of sobriety and she was stressed about it and Cooper got her through it. In May we took him to the vet because he was favoring his right front leg. They did x-rays and a physical exam and determined it was arthritis. Went on a regimen of pain killers and anti-inflammatories. Turns out it wasn't arthritis. It was an aggressive sarcoma that was growing up into his spinal cord that we couldn't have done anything about. He loved to camp, so we're thankful that in October - he got a pretty epic camping trip to include a car ride along the Blue Ridge Parkway (since he couldn't hike with the other two) up in Lynchburg.
I took the day off of work, and we had a local hospice vet come to the house - and we said goodbye in his favorite bed, with his pack around him able to say goodbye. I'll miss the little man.
Last week, we had to say goodbye to another member of our family, the little man that has been the one constant in our life for 10 1/2 years. When my wife was stationed at the Pentagon and lived in Gainesville, VA during the week (and came home on the weekends), Cooper kept her sane. That was a rough year, because it was also my first year of sobriety and she was stressed about it and Cooper got her through it. In May we took him to the vet because he was favoring his right front leg. They did x-rays and a physical exam and determined it was arthritis. Went on a regimen of pain killers and anti-inflammatories. Turns out it wasn't arthritis. It was an aggressive sarcoma that was growing up into his spinal cord that we couldn't have done anything about. He loved to camp, so we're thankful that in October - he got a pretty epic camping trip to include a car ride along the Blue Ridge Parkway (since he couldn't hike with the other two) up in Lynchburg.
I took the day off of work, and we had a local hospice vet come to the house - and we said goodbye in his favorite bed, with his pack around him able to say goodbye. I'll miss the little man.