Sasha Update

Our girl, Sasha is officially old. By our calculations, she will be 14 in June (give or take, she was originally a shelter dog, so her origins are sketchy). She has started having some health issues this winter - loss of appetite, stomach illness, failing back legs... She has been in and out of the vet many times and they have determined the following:

• She has arthritis in her hips. She is on an anti-inflammatory pain med for this, as well as glucosamine.
• She has a tumor near her lungs that will eventually impede her breathing.
• She has failing internal organs. They have her on ursodial for gall-bladder issues.

The vet offered for us to look into surgery, but because of her age and issues with her internal organs, we have opted for palliative care. We plan to provide her a good life with hopefully more good days than bad ones. When the bad days outnumber the good ones, it will be time to say goodbye. Honestly, based on her condition around Christmas, I am surprised she is still with us.

Sasha is slow and spends more of her day sleeping than anything, but she still becomes very excited about walks, food, and sunshine in the back yard. We take her for 2-3 walks through the neighborhood per day (this is mostly Jason), allowing her to choose the path and speed. She prefers going downhill to uphill, which occasionally causes us to gently guide her back uphill before she goes so far, she can't return home. Somehow every trip leads us past the corner grocery/deli where they know her by name and feed her a dog bone (sometimes twice a walk!).

Dog massage by her favorite person in her favorite place. What's not to love?

My cousin, Lenore,  had a large yard and spent most of her spring/summer/autumn gardening. Sasha seems happiest when we are in the back yard, doing some kind of yard work. Mowing doesn't bother her. She chooses a sunny spot and alternates between supervision and naps.

She is also a HUGE chow hound. Any meal is a huge event of interest for Sasha. We mostly have to limit her diet to chicken and rice, but the SMELLS are enough to keep her riveted on us (and occasionally sniffing too close to our plates).

Working from home has allowed us to give Sasha the attention she needs. She tends to become stressed out if we all leave her, even with a great dog-sitter who is her friend. We plan to stay relatively close to home for the coming months (or take turns away) to try to keep our girl happy and healthy. She was an amazing dog for Lenore and has been the perfect family pet for us. She helped Toe overcome his fear of big dogs and has taught him about co-habitation between different species. We all have benefited greatly from knowing her.

Because of Toe's health issues and the time we are away from home, Sasha is likely to be our first and last pet for quite a while. We are enjoying each moment (and I think she is too)!

Soccer Birthday

In February we went to watch our friend's son, Jake, play soccer on his 18th birthday. It was a beautiful winter day and many of our friends gathered to support him. I'm not sure how Jake felt, having his mother, father, sister, and many of their friends and relatives all cheering him on (maybe a little louder than we needed to!), but we had a great time. He took it really well.

It has been a wonderful experience to raise kids with my friends. The "kids" range in age between 23 and 10, all 4-5 years apart. Toe is the youngest of the group and that has allowed me to watch my friends experience babies, elementary school, junior high, high school, puberty, graduation. I have learned so much watching my friends navigate the various parenting joys and pitfalls. The older kids have always been fantastic with Toe and although he doesn't have a built-in community of peers, he does have a built-in community of kids to look up to. He admires the other kids greatly.

Toe watches Jake tend goal

The community of support for our kids includes a variety of parents and non-parents, all who have invested time, energy, and love into their upbringing. We are so lucky to be able to share moments like this with friends, to celebrate this crazy life process with all of its twists and turns.