Flailing in the Shallows

Oh, there’s something between us, Mommy, I can’t get to you! her eyes tell me. I try, but the waves keep coming to get me, and the sand grabs at my feet. But I love you too much not to be with you, so here I come!  Stepping, then jumping then paddling then splashing the water […]

What Lily Knows

Buddy the bad and Lily the Good start out the day that way. Bud scampers off to find something to chew Lil stays put where I tell her to stay. “It’s way too quiet,” I say to Lil, Which means for sure that Bud’s up to no good. A flop of Lil’s tail tells me […]

In the Name of the Father

“I hate that part,” my neighbor tells me.  The end part. The part where you watch them slip deeper and deeper into the abyss, and you stand by, because you must. Someone must; they could not, should not, do this alone. And you care for their physical needs. You attend to their mental faculties. You […]

A Bowl of Cold Water

Our husky is old and on his last legs. Well, 3 of those legs. The fourth doesn’t work well any more. In fact, it’s more hindrance than help. His poor arthritic hip rotates in and, in his attempts at ambulation, takes him far afield. What used to be a straight line sees him 90 degrees off […]