The Graduate

Lyra completed the 7-week AKC Star Puppy Class at Teamworks Dog Training, and passed the final exam with flying colors. So proud of our little graduate!

Next up, Puppy Confidence and Agility Classes and then on to the Canine Good Citizen!

Stay...

  If only they could. 

As Frylie's health continued to deteriorate, we made the impossibly difficult decision to help him cross the Rainbow Bridge with the compassionate assistance of Lap of Love. He passed away peacefully at 2:25 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, February 12, 2023, surrounded by his family at home.

We spent his final days taking leisurely strolls along some of his favorite trails and spending time outside in the late winter sunshine, reminding him of how loved and cherished he is and always will be.

For his final meals, Fry was treated to hamburger steak with cheese, scrambled eggs and bacon, and yummy desserts of chocolate peanut butter cups. We stroked his soft fur and told him how much we loved him as he peacefully crossed the Rainbow Bridge, surrounded by Steve, myself, Lyra and Venus. Then, with our hearts breaking and tears flowing like unstoppable rivers, we allowed Lyra to touch him one last time. Watching her gently sniff his face and then softly kiss his nose broke my heart into a million pieces. 

We adore you, dearest boy. You are a treasure and life is so much better because of your presence in it. Your pawprints are furever on our hearts, and we love you now and always throughout eternity and beyond. May you forever run free across the Rainbow Bridge with Zoe, Spyder, Missee and Gillis until one day when we all meet again.

A Long Strange Week

 This month has felt like a rollercoaster ride where the seatbelts are broken. Frylie's cancer has progressed and although he has had some improvement in his symptoms with steroids, his overall trajectory is leading us toward making difficult end of life decisions in the not too distant future. He's still eating and drinking, and seems to enjoy his easy daily walks, but we know our time with him is finite and it breaks our hearts into pieces.

Knowing from experience that life without a dog is not an option for us and with Fry's increasing age and cancer progression, we began looking at adding another member to our family to ease the transition, and found an English Labrador puppy who checked all the boxes for what we wanted. In discussion with the breeder on January 18, she was kindly willing to keep the puppy for us until we all felt Frylie's situation was appropriate for bringing her home. I know it seems morbid to add another dog while Fry's still with us, but I truly believe he would want us to not be alone when his time comes.

As Frylie continued to have more good days than bad, we elected to pick up the puppy, whom we had decided to name Lyra after the constellation, on Saturday, January 28. We took Fry with us, and on arrival at the breeder's home, he and Lyra met and instantly bonded which was a lovely surprise. They played together gently in the yard, and were both very comfortable in the car together on the drive home.

Once home, the two immediately became inseparable and I think Fry has enjoyed showing Lyra the ropes and being the wonderful older brother to her. And Lyra has taken to Fry as her mentor and new best friend. Even our crochety deaf senior cat, Venus, seems content with the new family situation.

Cherishing Every Moment We Have

Our Frylie had surgery to remove a mast cell cancer tumor from his side. Due to the moderately high grade of the tumor at that time, we were told he would likely only survive about six more months. That was 22 months ago, and during the intervening gift of time with him, he's survived two more surgeries, one to remove a cancerous tumor on his toes and one to remove another mast cell tumor. The mast cell this last time, seven weeks ago, returned as very high grade and aggressive, but he had been doing surprisingly well. That is, until a few days ago when he began to have difficulty climbing steps. On his return visit to the veterinarian, Dr. Chris found what we'd all been dreading. It appeared another mast cell tumor had arisen, this time deep in the muscles of Fry's hip, and all signs point to this being terminal.

As our precious boy is already nearly 13 years old and becomes overwhelmingly anxious about hospitalization and painful infusions, we elected to forego chemotherapy, which would likely not give him much more in the way of time anyway and most probably not really improve his quality of life due to his extreme anxieties and fears of being in the hospital repeatedly for infusions.

So I'm sitting here typing this while trying to hold back tears and attempting to keep my sweet boy as comfortable as possible on his soft bed where he's resting at my feet. His current hospice care includes oral medications to relieve his discomfort and anxiety, and we've removed the legs from basically all our furniture so he doesn't have to climb up to get on the couch or bed. His appetite is decreased, but he is still eating and drinking, and his bathroom habits continue to be normal. And as he still seems to enjoy going for occasional very short, slow, easy walks in the neighborhood, we don't believe it's time yet, but deep in my heart I fear he's not much longer for this world.

If you're reading this, please light a candle for our precious Frylie. He's been the light of our lives for the past 12 years, and we continue to treasure every single moment we have remaining with him as a gift so precious it's impossible to deserve. This kind, humble soul with the biggest, softest heart and sweetest eyes, is the very embodiment of joy and gentleness. We will be with him through to the very end, and when that time finally arrives will give him the final gift of being with him as he transitions across the Rainbow Bridge.

As A New Year Approaches

 “Sorrow prepares you for joy. It violently sweeps everything out of your house, so that new joy can find space to enter. It shakes the yellow leaves from the bough of your heart, so that fresh, green leaves can grow in their place. It pulls up the rotten roots, so that new roots hidden beneath have room to grow. Whatever sorrow shakes from your heart, far better things will take their place.” 

~ Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī ~

“Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.”

~ J.R.R. Tolkien ~

“Wherever you are, and whatever you do, be in love.”

~ Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī ~

Wail

  "I felt that I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow. An air of stern, deep, and irredeemable gloom hung over and pervaded all."

~ Edgar Allan Poe ~

I believe the Universe offers humanity the opportunity for a path to unfathomable good or a path to unfathomable evil. During what I've witnessed in the many decades of my own existence, as well as what has been recorded throughout history even long before that, I can draw no other conclusion except that humanity has apparently continued to choose the path to unfathomable evil. This is apparent to me by the persistent cruel and brutal violence humanity repeatedly and hatefully inflicts upon the very planet we call home, all the living things inhabiting this earth with us and even against one another. And sadly I truly cannot say for certain I continue to have the strength to exist in such a world, where hope seems all but crushed and destroyed.

First Public Art Project!

My fabulous husband, Steve, brought it to my attention that the Town of Wake Forest had a public art project available that perhaps we should consider. The greenway beautification Sewer Structure Art Project involved painting sewer structures along the local greenway systems and since we both bicycle and walk these greenways almost daily, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. So we checked out the list of approved structures, selected the one we wanted to paint and submitted a very rough pencil sketch of our idea for painting it with a wildflower and insect theme to fit in with our love of nature.

Our structure selection and submission were accepted and arrangements were made to select our paint colors and necessary materials. Despite Mother Nature throwing us a few curveballs with afternoon and evening thunderstorms on the originally planned paint days, we were finally able to get out last month and get the primer coats - which also served as our background sky color - applied. Fortunately, the rain held off long enough for both coats of primer to dry thoroughly with no issues. 

Once the primer had fully dried, we were able to get out and complete the project, carrying all our painting supplies to the greenway structure on our bicycles, of course! 

Despite the brutal heat and humidity, Steve and I had a lot of fun with this and felt like kids again - painting cheery flowers and insects winding their way up and around the tank and exhaust pipe using heavy duty brushes, foam sponges and even our hands! 

We hope our project brings a smile to users of the Dunn Creek Greenway, and are grateful to the Town of Wake Forest for this opportunity!