When everything else seems insignificant.
We left town for a few days over the Labor Day weekend so I could have a reunion with childhood friends and Tru could have her annual get-to-gether with her sisters. They do their thing near their mothers birthday. I do mine whenever the opportunity arises. My friends were neighbor kids whom I played with from the age of six. I hate to admit how long ago that was so let's just say it was a long time ago.
My friends and I were really good kids. Although I have to admit that if my own kids had done what we did I'd have killed them. Times were different then. My good buddies turned out to be a credit to the community and I've always been thankful for the friendship of each of them. We had lunch together and then Jerry and I went around to some of the old stomping grounds. It was a total delight.
To backtrack a few weeks - our dog Mose, an Airedale, had gotten into some chicken legs just before Tru and I set out for Colorado. I was concerned that he might have some intestinal problems from the sharp bones so I took him to our first class vet, Dr. Larry Gumfory. An X-ray showed that the chicken was not a problem.
Dr. Gumfory did see something that might be a problem, however, and that was a mass in the chest. Since we were going to board Mose while we were in Salt Lake I asked Dr. Gumfory to check out the "mass" issue while Mose was there for boarding.
Dr. Gumfory called me to say that after doing a sonogram they found tumors on the bladder, prostate, and somewhere else I can't remember. We talked later on about further X-rays and a needle biopsy. Needless to say, the outlook is not too promising.
We had another Airedale, Penny, who died in 2001 at the age of twelve. It's still hard to talk about Penny and now we have to start thinking about the end of life for Mose. It's hard, and while my conversation with the doctor occured on September 3rd, I still haven't been able to tell the family. Not because I don't want them to know, but because I wouldn't get out two words without bawling.
Mose has a few weeks to a few months to live. I relish his time with us but it will be hard to see him go. I'll send an email to our kids and somehow I'll tell Tru but it won't be easy.
With everything I get uptight over in politics and local government, my greatest wish would be that Mose would be with us for a lot longer. He's a pain at times but he's a good pup and I'm going to miss him.
