Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Heartfelt

I enjoyed my short get-a-way in California. I bought my kids cool trinkets from some beach vendors. We walked and frolicked along the Huntington and Newport beaches. We ate at Ruby’s on the pier (a must if one is in the vicinity) and watched the sunset from the beach.

We chortled at a street preacher on the Huntington Beach boardwalk who had quite a large crowd gathered around him. He was doing his religious theatrics complete with a 6 and a half foot mechanical ape with red eyes. His point was evolution, and he used the ape for hands-on visual damnation. It was great. The glowing red eyes were a nice added effect.

We went out on the ocean and saw some gray whales migrating north to Alaska. They were an awesome sight. The drivers of speed boats were being assholes and driving over the top of the whales and scaring them. The captain of our vessel warned them and then he called the powers that be and reported them.

We also spent time with dolphins and sea lions. The dolphins glowed white-blue just under the surface of the ocean until they jumped. The ocean has some of the finest nature shows I have ever seen; one just needs to stop and smell the roses per se. It’s worth it.

Upon returning home, I have spent time helping my mom. As some of you may know, she had hip replacement surgery a week ago Monday. My mom is a runner and she had completely worn away her left hip. It has been an emotionally difficult thing for my mom to accept as she is ‘only 54,’ not to mention her right one will need replacing as well as soon as possible. I had been with my mom at the hospital every day after work for a few hours, and she came home last Thursday. I realized that in order to help my mom in the upcoming week (which is incidentally our Spring Break) I needed to help myself first, hence my 3 day reprieve.

Well in the chaos of getting mom home and settled my parent’s 5 month old puppy had gotten out of her pen a couple of times. I’m sure she was bored and went wandering. During one of her wanderings she apparently came across some rat poisoning. Many people store rat poisoning in their garage. My parents also have it, but when they got their puppy they put it high on a shelf in their garage. My grandma has some in her garage as do some neighbors. It’s not certain where she found it, but she dragged the small box home and was found chewing it on the lawn.

They put in a call at that time to their Vet. They were advised to give the puppy water to drink to dilute any poison she may have swallowed and to just ‘watch’ her carefully. The timing was horrible as dad was doing his best to help mom—we all were. They noticed that the puppy wasn’t acting as lively as she normally does Monday night. Early Tuesday morning calls were made to every Veterinarian in the area as her normal Vet was out of town. I even made calls to nearby cities to no avail. Every last one of them claimed they were “full” and couldn’t see the dog. I was livid. This was an obvious emergency as she started bleeding out of her nose. They did have an after hour clinic that didn’t open until 5 pm. My mom begged each Vet to see her puppy. It was so frustrating.

I held this sweet, little puppy on and off throughout the morning and into the afternoon. It was torture to watch her suffer. My heart hurt. She was listless and she labored to even breathe. I rubbed her head and whispered words of comfort to her. I told her that I loved her and that I was so sorry she was hurting.

My sister showed up with her kids to help with the puppy. This little puppy tried to wag her tail for the kids. She loved the kids.

Around 4 in the afternoon her regular Vet called. He had just arrived back in town and he said to bring her in. My parents drove her to see him. The Vet gave her 2 shots to help her, told my dad to watch her closely, and to bring her back in the morning.

My parents drove their puppy the short distance back home. They pulled into their driveway and were holding her between them. She put her little head on each of my parent’s arms. My dad leaned down and kissed the top of her fuzzy head and told her that he loved her. She gave a big sigh and she died. Her little body couldn’t handle the suffering any longer and she succumbed.

Perhaps it was too late for her by the time she was seen by the Vet. We’ll never know if a few hours difference could have saved her. I was mad and I’m still mad that they have after hours emergency care, but apparently not a ‘during’ hours one. That just seems so senseless.

My relaxing weekend turned into a weekday of sorrow. My feelings are all jumbled. I felt so helpless.

We brushed her little body and wrapped her in her favorite towel. We buried her with dignity and love. She will be sorely missed.