Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Lessons on Life from a Dog

It amazes me how much I have learned from spending time with my dogs. Grommit was an excellent teacher of what was best in life, and I did my best to soak up all the lessons I could. Now I will share a little Grommit wisdom with you!

Life According to Grommit:

Find or create your own personal space, a place that reflects your style and personality and spend as much time relaxing there as you can! Grommit's place just so happened to also be the food pantry...




















Everything is better with a friend...
















...even when that friend drives you crazy! Real friends will always forgive your little flaws, and love you no matter what!














Take time to look at and notice the simple beauty around you. If you stop looking, you might miss the exquisite loveliness that surrounds us, even in the places we least expect it!














Balance your life: rest, play, work, eat, sleep, daydream... all these things are important, and you must be sure to do all of them equally. Don't just live; LIVE! Oh, and good bedding is also a must. You are going to (or you SHOULD) spend eight hours on it-make it a good eight hours. Or in Grommit's case, it is more like 18...















Just because someone is very different from you does not mean you cannot end up friends...














Find what you love to do and do what you love as much as possible. Grommit loved mud... lots and lots of mud...














Always take time to share a good laugh...














...and a good snuggle!














Be adventurous!














Beauty is only skin deep. Grommit has a lot of that...skin, that is... and inner beauty.




















So many lessons to teach for such a short life! Grommit lumbered through life loved by everyone who met him, and seemed pretty content most of the time; I don't think this is coincidence. We all could do with a little "Grommitness" every day!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Goodbye, Sweet Boy


Grommit Brinson passed away at around 4pm on Tuesday, May 13th.

He was acting strangely for some time, but nothing that you would put together as signs of illness; we just thought it was old age coming on. On Monday Oscar came home to find no one greeting him at the door. He found the dogs in the back bedroom; Grommit so sick he could not stand, and Claris watching over him. I rushed Grom to our local Emergency Veterinary Hospital, RVCC, and they took him in right away. They stabilized him and took X-rays, only to find his liver and spleen were grossly enlarged.

They kept him overnight, and then after ultrasounds and a biopsy Tuesday morning they found nodules and abnormal cells. He was struggling to breath, could barely walk, and could not stay awake. The prognosis was very poor, and after spending time with him outside on the lawn behind the hospital, I decided it was time to release him. He fell asleep beside me in the shady grass, and the hospital staff came out and quietly, without waking him, helped him sleep forever.

He was a unique and wonderful dog; that once-in-a-lifetime friend that you are lucky to have had in your life. Grommit will missed by so very many; I will somehow make sure that he will not be forgotten and his memory will continue on.