Those in the know

Those in the know know that this has been the spring/summer from hell.  We are coming out of it without too much collateral damage, but it has been a rough ride. In May we lost three beloved family members. It's so hard to watch our families go through the suffering of that loss, and to know that a part of our family has gone from this world. They will be missed. It was getting towards the end of the month when we had to have our beloved dog Jake put down. He suffered long and hard at the end, but kept fighting. When it became apparent that he could no longer fight any more, we let him go home. It was a devastating decision to make. Those who know understand that wishing for him to die in his sleep was something we did each day. Then it is not your action that takes him away, but when he is just plain ready. But watching him suffer every day became more than we could bear, or put him through. RIP Jake- 5/27/2012
And believe it or not, we just had to have our Daphne put down last week.  Her suffering was quick and unnexpected. She went from being fine (albeit a little slower than she has been-but we attributed that to age) to being at the vet in four days with either acute pancreatitis or renal failure. We had to make a decision right there to prolong her misery because of our pain, or to let her go and let the pain end. RIP Daphne 8/21/12.

What a year you say?  Wait, there is more. We had just let out a sigh of relief thinking "Whew! May is over!" when on June 7 I got up in the morning due to a low blood sugar, was standing at the kitchen counter making myself something to eat, and down I went. I don't remember the fall, but when I came to (with the help of Jerry and Jackie) I knew my leg was broken. After being splinted with the cardboard from a wine box and tulle from a bolt that I just happened to have for crafts (which by the way worked like a charm) they (and Walter-who had slept through it all) took me to the hospital, where it was pronounced broken. I had broken the tibia and fibula (sp?) and needed surger to place a titanium rod (that's right rod-not pin-rod) from the knee to the ankle. It was a successful surgery and I was sent home with just my wounds bandaged.  No cast!  The rod acts as a cast and the leg heals.  So that set off another whole chain of events. But it wasn't ALL bad. In the midst of this our daughter graduated from high school on a beautiful June day. She is our youngest and so the last of the high school graduates. She has happily left for college in August and is on her way-it all goes so fast doesn't it?

We're happy in that all these events hurt so much because we loved so much. And that's not a bad thing is it?