Our silly Sula is failing. A German Shorthair Pointer, she is an antique at 14. Our breeder says any day past 10 years is a blessing, so we’re either blessed or lucky. We’ve had bumps on the downside, but last night, I thought, “This is it.” We managed the night with a last resort medication, and in the morning, I called our vet to ask their procedure if we were to bring Sula in for her last few breaths with us. In the time of Covid 19, I’m told that an attendant will meet me at the door. “We’ll take over from there, and we’ll call you.”
That is not going to happen. In Sula’s worst moments she sticks to us like glue, so, sorry, not in someone else’s arms. I’ll draw on the medicine of last resort and extra doses of comfort and care. Today, Sula’s interested in the world and what’s in her bowl, her short tail a-waggin.
4-legged or 2-legged, for many there’s no difference, so can you imagine leaving your loved one at the door and an unfamiliar person takes over. No matter how kind and knowledgeable, he or she cannot stay bedside and will be swept under in the wave of this crisis. Your loved one dies in no one’s arms. Can you imagine that call?
Maybe I’m lucky. I can buy some time and renew the prescription through glass protection. Others have no luck at all, and they must surrender their loved one for the sake of love, for the love of life. It doesn’t matter, the bleeding lung, the heart attack, the insulin shock. The times are indiscriminate.
We all hope and pray that this will not be our experience, but someone is living it now. In fact, a multitude more than we will ever know. We must have faith that there is a wave of love more powerful than ever imagined, and that we are creating this wave now, across the globe, our hearts breaking as one.
Thank you all for being in my life. I pray that you and I be well and that all beings be well. Stay connected. Reach out if you need.