the old collie

Tuesday our dog, Windy, had to have surgery to remove a tumor. She's 12 years old. We've been married 13 years, and she's been a constant through those years. She kept Todd company in College Station while I was in D.C. She ate our couch. She moved with us to Coppell, and watched us stress through our first jobs. She accepted our increasing additions to the family. One dog. 2 cats. 3 kids. She moved into the first house we owned. The second house we owned. She was part of the live, work, and play in the same town dream. It's funny to look through our pictures through all these parts of our life and see her always in the background. She's always part of the conversation. She's a part of our family.

The Vet warned us that she might not make it through the surgery, but that the tumor would continue to grow until it burst if we didn't operate. Rock. Hard Place. We went ahead with the surgery, and she came home yesterday afternoon. She's so pitiful. The vet also warned us that she was in a lot of pain, and just needed a lot of TLC. We have a lot of that around here (especially for animals), and she has been showered with love and attention. We've made her a cozy spot in the garage, and with the nice weather these 2 days, we put her outside to feel the breeze on her nose. She loves that. In the pic above, she fell asleep in the middle of a drink, but she still loves that. It's hard to know how she's doing. Her eyes tell me she's sad, but Todd's voice of reason tells me she's old, and she's sore. She basically just had a tummy tuck; she hurts and doesn't understand why. Sandy, our Sheltie, hasn't left her side for more than a minute. Marley, the puppy, seems to know that she's just not up to wrestling right now. The next 2 weeks are critical, and we're waiting for her spunk to return.

She has a lot of spunk too. The UPS guy is scared of her. So is our builder. She might have bitten Todd's niece a time or two, and she'll lick you until your skin falls off your bones. She digs to China. She thinks the route to China is through my flowerbeds. She's nowhere near perfect, but she's funny. She's sweet. She's our Windy Storm, and we love her.

When we picked her up, the vet called to the back to bring up the Old Collie. Todd and I looked at eachother and fought back maybe just one tear. Cross your fingers that she bounces back. Light a candle that there's just a little more spunk left in her old bones.