I’m having to veer off my planned topic for this week due to a very unexpected turn of events yesterday in our family.  As I was working around the house, I noticed our dog, Trapper trying to stand up, but collapsing over and over.  After a quick home exam, my wife and I jumped to the quick assumption that he had been bit by a rattle snake.  He had all the symptoms.  We wrapped him up in a beach towel and lugged this 100 pound hamock down the stairs and into the trunk.  The vet had to look him over in the car cause he couldn’t move.  He was paralized.

I bit of quick history.  We took Trapper in as a Foster Care Dog for our local Lab Rescue Orginization only two months ago.  Just days before we got him, he had a growth removed from his foot, and also a toe.  We had him for several days already before the vet had the byopsy results back from the growth.  We were then told he had a very aggressive form of cancer that was very likely to return with a vengence…maybe he had nine months, we were told.

So when he was reacting from the “bite”, so we thought, we had to go through all the scenerios of “what ifs” while waiting for our vet’s assessment.  So she ran some tests and quickly determined that this was not a bite, but rather the cancer had simply overtaken his nervous system and he was near the end.  It was pretty likely it had been working on all of his insides with no external symptoms until then.  Crushed.  How can this be?  He was FINE less than two hours earlier…eating, wondering the yard, flopping on the front deck, just like any other day in the last two months.

We left the boy at the vet while we went to pick up our kids from school and bring them back to say goodbye.  Our youngest daughter was too shaken up and didn’t want to be there, but our sons did.  We took a quick video (which I plan to post with or near this blog) of our happy faced Big Oaf, as we lovingly called him.  We all stayed with him to the end, and for a while after…crying, hugging, kissing, sobbing…. did I mention crying?

So why did I feel I needed to bring this here to this blog?  The fact is, we go along with our day to day lives, with our plan, and usually that works ok for most of us.  But sometimes life just hits us square in the face with something we didn’t or couldn’t plan for.  I was reminded of just how fragile our lives can be.  Our entire life can change in an instant.  Yes, this was a dog, and we only had him a really short time, but our lives are imprinted forever in ways we could never explain.  Dogs are no different than people in that respect.

I’ve lost friends, and family, in most cases suddenly.  No time to say goodbye, or let them know how much they meant to me.  Most of us can probably say this.  When people really close are just fine one minute and then in an instant ripped away, we are completely life altered.  We need to find a way to remember what’s important and live each day as if it could be your last.  Love more, laugh more, give of yourself more.

Trapper wondered a bit too far from the house last week.  I had to get in my truck and play hide and seek.  I was less than pleased with his antics at that moment… actually, I was really ticked that I had to take the time to chase after him.  If someone had told me that a week later I’d be saying goodbye, maybe I would have been more forgiving of his need to wonder.  Maybe I’d have given him a big pat on the head upon his return and told him how much I loved him and was just glad he was home.

Tell the people in your life just how much they mean to you.  Give lots of hugs.  Smile a little more.  Make a difference in your life, and someone else’s.  You just never know what is in store for tomorrow.