Sydney the Wonderdog

This week, Sydney had a brush with death. She went into an unexplained seizure episode in the middle of the night last weekend, and she seized for over an hour. After a 30 hour stay at the emergency vet, followed by a full day of observation at our own vet, she came home to recuperate. I have learned two important things from this whole episode.

1. Pets are really, really good friends, and part of the family.

2. Their absence is felt so much more than their presence.

I had dropped her off at family's home for the week, as we were preparing to leave for a camping trip. I stopped to pick up a carry-out on the way home, and as I was trekking back and forth from the kitchen to the living room with the plates and food, I was unconsciously looking around for Sydney. She is almost ALWAYS underfoot, and if you're not careful, you'll step on her 50 times a day. I actually had the conscious thought "Oh, that's right, Sydney isn't here. Gee, I miss her already." Then, when I got that phone call at 4:00 am and I was standing over my beloved friend, begging her to wake up and really thinking that she was not going to, I had the follow-up thought: "Oh my god, I'm going to be missing her like that every day". And it made me realize what an important and yet sometimes invisible part she plays in our lives. I can't describe the joy and relief that I felt when she finally opened her eyes and lifted her head off the table. I thought, "I'm going to make sure Sydney knows how much we love her, every day". And then I realized, I should let EVERYONE I love know how much I love them every day. There are so many people who would leave a tangible hole in my life if they were suddenly gone, but I don't very often really stop to think about it. This is the lesson that my good friend Sydney taught me this week. So thank you, Sydney. And to everyone who cares enough about me to be reading this post, I love you too. And I would miss you terribly if you were gone.