My Little Red Sports Car: Part One

I've always had pets, and I've always loved them. Nothing exotic, cats and dogs mostly, but I did let my daughter own a rat when she was young. All my pets were neutered, spayed and spoiled. I've never had an animal that wasn't allowed on the bed. Well--maybe not Gizmo the rat. Three years ago when our fifteen year old mixed breed pup had to be put down I knew I'd never have another dog.

We had been apartment dwellers, my husband, daughter and I. Like many families we promised our child a puppy if we ever lived in a place that would allow it. L and I both grew up with dogs as part of our family and wanted our daughter to experience all the pleasure and responsibility of dog companionship. When we finally got into our first house it only took a few weeks for Kafka to come into our lives. Kafka was a wonderful addition to our family, and as so often happens when the child grows up and moves out, Mom and Dad are left to take care of doggie on their own.

In the years after our daughter moved out of our home and into adulthood our lives shifted from responsible parents to wander-lusting travelers. Kafka was not a travelling dog and the hassle of finding someone to doggy-sit every time we wanted to take off on an adventure definitely limited our globe-hopping. When our ever frisky dog finally started to show some signs of old age it turned out that she was already very ill and discussions about putting her down forced us to face some of our own end-of-life options. Should we let nature take its course and do our best to keep her comfortable or should we over-ride nature and do what seemed like the merciful thing? While we were wrestling with the fears and concerns that were really more about our own mortality, Kafka went into a health crisis which prompted an emergency call to the vet. It was as if Kafka sensed that we were struggling with such a difficult decision, and ever our protector she took matters into her own four hands.

As our grief passed, L and I began to enjoy a new found liberty. With only one very independent cat to worry about we were finally free to travel as we’d always wished. Unfortunately it was then we also discovered just how far apart from one another we had already traveled.

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