Do They Really Come in Threes?

"I think we are drawn to dogs because they are the uninhibited creatures we might be if we weren't certain we knew better. They fight for honor at the first challenge, make love with no moral restraint, and they do not for all their marvelous instincts appear to know about death. Being such wonderfully uncomplicated beings, they need us to do their worrying."
~George Bird Evans

I spent my Mother's Day in Columbus, crying. It was a bit of a surprise that my Mom was in Ohio for Mother's Day (she was supposed to be in Florida to celebrate her Mother-in-law's 95th birthday). So when she asked me to meet her for the weekend so she wouldn't have to spend it alone, I said sure.

Little did I know the reason she was in Ohio was because the family's 12 year old black lab mix had congenstive heart failure due to a pericardial effusion the day before they were to leave. Mom stayed home with the dog (they weren't sure what was wrong at the time) and Dad went to Florida to be with his mother. When the doctors determined the next day what had happened, Mom made the heartbreaking decision to euthanize our dog. The complications from the condition would have been difficult and painful to treat, yet resulted in little more quantity and much less quality of life for Pepper.

Rather than call to tell me all of this, she met me in Columbus. We spent the weekend crying, remembering Pepper and other family and friends we've lost over the years. We also spent part of it lying to my father, because we were worried his grief over the loss of the dog would send his mother into a downward spiral, as she had a soft spot in her heart for Pepper. He found out today when he got home from Florida.

I got back to Lexington early this afternoon and had to go to work. It was unreal. I am grieving the loss of our dog and yet life goes on as normal. Funny thing about losing a pet - some people just get it, and some people just don't. When I was unpacking the car I noticed a big shoelace on the ground near the bushes, which wasn't a shoelace at all. Apparently, this small snake called our apartment complex home too. It seems to live under the gutter spout. Not sure at all what kind of snake it is, but I'd imagine with the colors it's not a dangerous one.

First my hospitalization (back blipped in April), now Pepper's death... I'm still shellshocked and a bit nervous that there is one more big bad event on the horizon... unless these sorts of things don't really come in threes??