A Dogs Journey

Serendipity means a happy coincidence of effects and  circumstances. Recently, after a long morning at Cottagewood, where was the usual reports about Barb falling repreatedly usually out of her confinement to a wheelchair. That night she was found on the floor in her room about 2 AM facing the bed and yelling for me to come and rescue her. My suggestions of having her where her walking shoes during the day to help give her some balance and have assisted morning walks ran up against various state laws and local protocols and all the usual excuses and mumbo-jumbo. After lunch somewhat giving up, I decided to go to a movie based on a book I'd  read some years ago.  So I went to see a Dog’s Journey the dearly. The next day  at 11 o'clock I had an appointment with Dr. Kirsch who told me my hope for  the  right knee sometime in July was off  due to my recent bout with pseudo-gout and more specifically the cortisone shot which over night ended my desire to meet St. Peter at the pearly gates. It seems cortisone reduces the ability of the body to fight off infections. I guess that explains why both Barb and I for years after left knee replacements had to take antibiotic pills whenever we visited the dentist. I asked the doctor how serious the risk was of going had with the surgery and his reply basically was “well, you  get an infection there and we’ll probably have to amputate you right leg”. Hmmm I guess I’ll wait till September…..

This is not intended to be what Stacy, my very wise cleaning lady and EMT, calls a “pity party” nor some extraneous “drama”which I am getting rid of by writing about a dog movie.. The movie began about 1: 30 and I found myself all alone in the theater both literally and figuratively.  The scene was a farm we see  a beautiful young woman and mom of a little girl. The mom lost her husband in the war in Iraq. Now she was drinking too much and paying little or no attention to her child. The grandparents offered to raise the little girl, and instead their daughter took her child planning never to return to the farm so she could a musical career life in the big city. The catch to this story is all about Bailey, the beloved dog of the grandparents. Bailey had already adopted and protected the little girl. Given the mission to protect the little girl we see  Bailey return to protect her in the form of a series of other dogs who carry on his life and mission.

Pretty sappy I guess but in our family there was Max our first dog, and big guy a. K. A. Baron our first German Shepherd and Ethan our oldest grandson and several other coincidences of names and circumstances. Halfway through the movie sitting in the seat for two I lost it. Later, on the way out unbeknownst to me, there was an elderly couple in the theater. Out in the parking lot the lady came up behind me and said “your a dog lover like us aren’t you?” I could only nod in response, while thinking that's just a small part of it.This movie hit a too close to home.