Run my little snow dog! Cold, crisp but oh so magical run in our own, deserted winter wonderland this morning. We so rarely get snow in Ireland, but it was magical this morning ❤️
@improvingovertime tagged me for a selfie! Yesterday was my first proper run in 10 days! I’m taking some much needed down time and trying to recharge the battery’s before my next training cycle
I know that those of you who have dogs will both understand this completely and disagree entirely (because your dog is the best dog in the whole world). But she is. When I was too poor to relax, she helped me to find joy, when I was too depressed to get up she stayed by my side, and when my world fell in on itself she and her brother were all I fought to keep from the relationship. He got the house (which in fairness, his mother fronted the deposit for), the furnishings, and what was left of my self-esteem. I got the dogs, my gerbil, my life back, and a fair share of our joint friends.
“Dogs’ lives are too short. Their only fault, really.” – Agnes Sligh Turnbull
On the days when I wanted nothing more than to die, it was the certain knowledge that no one else in my family could take care of her, her brother, and their rodent sibling that made me put down the blade and pick up the meds. But it was Tia who stayed by my side without fail. If I lay in bed all day, she stayed by my side, her head on my stomach or back or chest, until it was time to eat, walk, shower. Her empathy is endless.
It is shameful, then, that in recent years I have neglected that empathy. Not her, of course; the dogs have always been well-fed, had their shots, been walked, had toys. They have never been cold or hungry or been left without the care they deserve. But I have been busy - I started to write, working for myself, when I lost my call center job as a result of mental illness. I was so determined to break out of the pit my failed relationship left me in that I worked 30, 40, and 50-hour weeks. Tia and her brother were fed and walked and cared for, and they were hugged and petted in the morning and the evening, and thanks to my grandmother they were played with. But they weren’t getting enough of me.
Then, about two months ago, Tia got sick. Really sick. She lost control of her bladder, at first, and started to drink excessively - I thought she had a UTI, but the symptoms persisted. She had always been a little chubby because we got her spayed young (a mistake I will not make again, it has too many negative effects), but she quickly became thin. She went from 27 kilos to 22 in just under three weeks, she became lethargic, shaky, and stiff.
it’s been a minute since i posted on here! i’ve been using my studygram a lot more but i’m going to try and do both! i’m studying for my last genetics exam of the semester today and just trying to push through to the end of this weird semester/year :) today i’m drinking a hazelnut latte which i made using my stovetop bialetti moka (which i am addicted to now)
