This hasn’t been a very easy year for me. In fact, of all my years on this Earth to date, this past one has been the most trying by far. And the most blues-filled.
One After the Other
It started last summer when we tried to move back to Jacksonville. Thankfully plans changed, but instead of life sailing along unencumbered as I’d hoped, I got sick in November –the same week Wayne moved home and we left to go to Denver for Thanksgiving.
Then Wayne got sick, and I had a relapse and fell ill again.
Come January and February I was better. The worst part of those months was I rarely saw Wayne. He was back to working his crazy long hours.
Then came March. Life has been nowhere near the same since my mom got sick, I moved her in with us, I did my best to care for her, but she ended up passing away in July. During those months I also had a car accident and lost the diamond in my wedding ring.
August promised to be better since we had decided to take a vacation, but that just left me stressed out when we came home to a hurt Murph.
September brought his surgery, and now he’s recovering.
Hold No Grudges
But you know something? As guilty as I feel that he has to spend eight weeks in a cast with a cone on his head, Murph’s same old happy Murph. He doesn’t blame me or hold it against me.
He doesn’t understand why we won’t let him cross the street and go on his beloved walks, but he doesn’t act out. He’s not depressed and doesn’t sulk or stew. He gets tickled just to go outside and hasn’t minded adopting a new routine. (In the afternoon we hang out outside for an hour or two while he sunbakes on the lawn. During what would have been his five or six o’clock walk, we go out and hop to the very edge of the lawn where he plops down and wags his tail hello at everyone coming home while I perch on the curb next to him.)
Living a Good Life
Life is good, cast or no, I can see it on his smiling face. Okay, so he can’t walk. But his neighborhood buddies (human and canine alike) still stop by to say hello. He gets to enjoy the great outdoors. He’s with his mom –and, when time allows, his papa too.
And what’s there to be upset about when you have a brother and sister like Mr. Meow and Tabby waiting for you back inside? Tab watches him from the windows and is always waiting at the door when we come back to greet him with a snuz. Mr. Meow isn’t quite as affectionate, but when Murph settles down for a snooze, Mr. Meow camps out not far away.
My Inspirations
Heck, it was only last summer when Mr. Meow and Tabby finally started getting along. Now I look at all of us –one big happy family– and I’m reminded of the importance of counting my blessings.
1. We’re all alive and with each other.
2. We’re all healthy. (Or in the process of being nursed back to health.)
3. We never go hungry.
4. There is never a day that goes by without hugs, nuzzles, tail wags, laughter, or kisses.
5. We have a roof over our heads and a big bed to all snuggle up in at night.
6. No matter what comes our way, we’ll greet it together, muddle through it together, and be there for each other.
Wayne and I exchanged marriage vows, but Mr. Meow, Murphy, or Tabby have never uttered “for richer or poorer, in sickness or health.” But by golly come rain or shine, they’re there.
Usually with bright, curious eyes and big imaginations. After all, to them everything is an exciting adventure. One where surely they can sneak in some play or mischief and at the end of it be rewarded with lots of loving.
So far they have yet to be wrong.
Courtney Mroch writes about animals great and small in Pets and the harmony and strife that encompasses married life in Marriage. For a full listing of her articles click here.
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