We put our dog down this last weekend.
14 years old. Lab-mix.
She could barely walk as she was.
And then, early one Saturday morning, trying to get her outside while she was making a mess in the house, she fell and howled unlike I have ever heard a dog howl.
We finally made it to the vet and learned what we suspected was right, her leg was most likely broken, and she would never walk again.
Physically, my grandparents are both in the same boat right now.
Neither can care for each other, or themselves.
I do not look forward to it, like a chore I must do, or difficulty I much drudge through – but with only even more tragic exceptions, I know that age waits on us all.
I hope this period, too, is blessed.
“Another day to be filled, to be lived silently, watching the sky and the lights on the wall. No one will come probably. I have no duties except to myself. That is not true. I have a duty to all who care for me—not to be a problem, not to be a burden. I must carry my age lightly for all our sakes, and thank God I still can. Oh that I may to the end. Each day then, must be filled with my first duty, I must be “all right”. But is this assurance not the gift we all give to each other daily, hourly?”
–Florida Scott-Maxwell, Measure Of My Days
