Until the next morning

I’m so sorry the last two weeks have gotten away from me without a post, as a friend once quoted, “I’ve been busier than a one-legged chicken in a kicking contest!” The good news is, I heard the first Meadowlark,what a lovely sound! And although I hear we are in for the great blizzard of 2016, I am hopeful that a green spring is just around the corner.  Being a veterinarian is AWESOME and HORRIBLE all at the same time.  The miracle of life never gets old.  One of my favorite things is delivering babies in the spring. It’s really AWESOME if they are alive and happy and born between 8-5 on a Monday thru Friday! The HORRIBLE part of being a veterinarian, comes when the phone rings at 5 o’clock and you debate whether the woman on the other end of the line is dramatic or her dog is REALLY that sick.  When she pulls up with her adorable family and their sweet, old black dog can barely ambulate in the clinic, you are instantly humbled. You can feel the sadness.  This dog raised these kids, he followed them on their bike and was there to greet them everyday after school.  He’s protected them from danger and been the only one who’d listen when things weren’t going their way.  You can read the writing on the wall, even so, you carefully examine him from nose to tail. You take your time, not because you’re looking for something because you already know…but because you’re running through the words you’ll say next in your mind.  How can I make it sound better?  What options should I offer?  What you want to say is he’s going to be fine and here’s a bottle of magic pills to make him young again, be sure you give them as directed! BUT, what you need to say, what you HAVE to say is what this woman and her kids don’t want to hear.  After listening to his heart for what probably seems like an eternity to everyone else in the room, you finally have your words and you begin the conversation.  For some the decision is easy, they walk in the door knowing, for others it’s harder to let go.  The tired old black dog with a heart of gold is counting on me to speak for him and so I do.  I make sure that his owners know he doesn’t wear a watch, because he doesn’t know what time it is or what day of the week, he simply knows what he feels right now today.

Times like these call for sage advice.  My Grandpa (Pop’s dad) was born March 27, 1922, served as a Flying Tiger in WWII, and raised 4 kids, based on that I’m pretty sure he meets the qualifications for a sage.  We celebrated his 94th birthday this Easter and he was still the life of the party, he had us all laughing with his stories and jokes.  He’s recently taken up Bingo at what he laughingly calls “the institution”, and he’s been winning!  He won a dog that dances and sings that he often plays off for a real dog until people meet him.  His latest prize, multiple six packs of low sodium V8, is that a prize? Anyway, as we sat around the table we asked him the key to living so long and healthy.  He simply answered this, “just live through today, you never know what tomorrow may throw at you”. Bro Q (who you’ll formally meet later) asked him if he thought he’d live to be 94, “No” he said.  Then of course he asked the logical question to follow, “well how long did you think you’d live?”  Grandpa’s response was priceless, “until the next morning”.

WWII Flying Tigers

So, next time you’re worrying about what’s next or how you’re going to get through this remember an old sage’s advice, all you have to do is live this moment, “until the next morning”.