Gaps

Eagle-eyed Pam spotted a reference to "dog" rather than "dogs" and, looking back, I note that I had a big gap between posts from March to November.

Well, in this time, in August last year, we lost both Shelagh our old girl and Rich's mum within a couple of days of each other. Rich's mum Sue went far too young at 70 but she had recurring cancer having thought she had beaten it the year before and the early stages of dementia which made her very confused at the end.

She had clearly set her sights on getting to our wedding and having a wonderful day then not lingering long beyond that. And in that she was sucessful.

She was brilliant on our wedding day. Looked lovely, ate, danced with her sons, chatted with the family and stayed late. When we came back from our minimoon in Wensleydale, she was straight to hospital and then into a care home and she died 9 weeks later.

Her brothers and sisters, one in particular, were great as were her 3 children. Even though the 2 brothers don't really get on with their sister, they put that to one side and all worked together to make Sue's last days and weeks as comfortable and loved as possible.

It was a strange start to a marriage though, everyone asking if you're really happy but the fact was we were stressed, lonely and bored. I visited her 2 or 3 times each week but Rich only had a few days off in all that time so I had to do everything at home.

Which sadly included caring for an increasingly poorly dog. She deteriorated quite quickly really though and didn't suffer beyond one bad episode when we had to rush her to the emergency vet. In the end, it was only one bad night when she would not be comforted by either of us. We knew she wanted to go and she had a couple of fits on my lap as we drove into Sheffield to the vet. She made it so easy for us. A trip to the vets and we let her go in peace.

I wish Sue had been able to go in such peace and had not had to endure 4 or 5 days of slipping away, rattling and choking at the very end. I wish Rich and his family did not have to remember her like that. It seems we can be kinder to our pets than to our parents.

Anyway, these pics are of Shelagh's last proper walk about a week before she died. She still had a paddle and a stick and was my best girl.

Minty was a bit on edge for a few days after she went but has blossomed. She absolutely loves being an only dog so, much as we'd like to give another dog a home, we are going to let her have her way and enjoy her retirement being spoiled rotten!