June is the start of a two month period of "bad anniversaries". One year ago this month, my good friend Susan (Sooz) had cancer surgery, chemo, & radiation followed by another surgery. In the midst of that she had a bad reaction to one of the chemotherapy drugs...ended up having seizures and being hospitalized.
At about the same time, our 11 year old labrador retriever, Gus, had some kind of a seizure of his own. He fell down and couldn't get up again right away. A couple hours later he seemed fine...but over the following weeks we could tell he was slowing way, way down. One day, just after Bob came home from work it happened. Gus just looked up at Bob, wagged his tail and died.
I was so stressed out last summer. I was anxious, having sleep problems and what I would call mini-panic attacks several times a day. It made such a difference when we got our puppy, Norton, at the end of last summer. Turning my attention to him and away from the sad stuff made me realize that I've GOT to have a dog (or cat) in my life.
Just a couple months ago Susan had another hard blow. Her dog, Trixie, who was close to Gus' age, also died. I was very worried that she would go through a hard time like I did. Two weeks ago we hit the farmers market and she mentioned she was looking for puppies that afternoon. That was a good sign.
I'm hoping this summer we can set a series of happy anniversaries to celebrate in the future.
1-Our pup, Norton, will be one year old this month! He's a little Cardigan Welsh corgi -- these corgis HAVE tails and even bigger ears than the Pembroke corgis. Birthday party scheduled for June 18. Biscuits for all! If you need a friend, adopting a puppy or adult dog can be life changing. I'm happy to say I have walked Norton almost every day since we brought him home -- I think I have had two days when I was too sick to walk, and a couple days when I travelled for work. He has been such a wonderful addition to our family. Corgis are very different in personality (and size) from the labrador retrievers we've had in the past -- but it's interesting to have a small/medium size pup. And there's no mistaking Norton for Gus, that is for sure. Thanks to Carolyn Cannon at C-Myste Corgis for letting us add Norton to our household!
http://www.c-myste.com/
2-Susan seems to be recovering really well. Fingers crossed, knock on wood, all signs look good that she is going to beat cancer. The month of May was breast cancer awareness month, but let June be the month you get a mammogram if you are overdue! And don't forget to give support and take inspiration from the strong women who are fighting this fight. Summer is the time when many cities sponsor Relay for Life, 3-Day Walks, and other events to expand awareness and support cancer research.
3-Celebrate friends. Pick up the phone and call someone that you haven't talked to in a while. Better yet, send them an actual card or letter! Go through your email address book and tap out a little note to someone to say you are thinking about them. As I get older I really do realize how important it is to nurture friendships -- and how fragile our lives can be.
Last Saturday Susan brought her new puppy over to meet Norton. Little Astro and Norton are both herding dogs, and it was wild to watch them run around together. I am excited that Norton has a new friend who is close to his size...for now, anyway. Astro will eventually be quite a bit taller than Norton! But I am looking forward to a long friendship between the two of them, and hopeful that I will have Susan around and in my life for many, many more years.
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