We did it.
I don't think it was totally irrational, but it sure was close.
Tilly has joined our family, and is our first adventure in co-parenting.
Jed is taking it all in stride. Kind of. He's always a gentleman, but at times he gets just a little anxious and reverts to his anxious behavior -- humping his bed. Bless his heart. But he's a gentle giant, and lets Tilly roll all over him. And every now and then he even nudges her to play, too. But mostly he just gets out of her way and waits for her to fall asleep.
Getting another dog is my admission to myself that Jed's not getting any younger. He'll be 8 (how did THAT happen?!) in another month, and as my sweetie pointed out, it might be prudent to bring in another pup to soften the blow a bit when the inevitable happens. NOT that I'm expecting it any time soon. He's in good health. But given his track record, I have to say that sometimes I feel like we're living on borrowed time.
Tilly is a true sweetheart. Still very much all puppy, with a joy for life that makes me happy. I'm glad she's joined our little family.
It almost happened.
Two weeks ago the human love of my life tiptoed on the edge of that slippery slope to all places dark and definite.
She had a brain bleed. Why? We'll never know.
She's okay now, just enduring the residual low-grade headache that will be part of her life for the next weeks or maybe months. She doesn't seem as sharp to me, but not so much that others who don't know her would notice. Just little things. Hopefully that will disappear as her headaches will with time.
I've never been so absolutely terrified in my life. I've never known what it felt like to stare loss in the face like I did that Sunday afternoon when I had to tell her that her brain had bled and we were going to ICU. At that moment I knew beyond a doubt that her presence in my life was more important than anything I'd ever experienced before. I couldn't lose her. And I couldn't lose us.
This was written almost 4 months ago. She's still doing well, and we can chuckle about her mild memory lapses. A visit to her doctor about a month ago simply confirmed what we'd already figured out -- that this will either go away, or it will be the new normal.
I love her all the more.
