Yesterday, I started a piece about my day spent volunteering at the PAWS medical center on 26th and Drake. It was going well, but as I was writing it, I realized that I was avoiding writing about the stuff that has really been bothering me. I was taking the easy way out by writing about shelter dogs because who doesn’t love a real Sarah McLachlan tear-jerker post mid-week? I also realized that I was writing about shelter dogs because helping…
I went to mass on Sunday. This should not be a surprising fact, but it was the first time I had been to mass in over a month. Granted, two of those weeks I was traveling, and one I was caring for an injured friend, but still. I had fallen down hard on my Catholic obligation and it felt good to sit in a pew. In Sunday’s gospel, Jesus commanded his apostles to go out in pairs to cast out…
Three days ago, my family made the decision to put our almost fifteen-year-old dog down. It was absolutely the right decision – his body was riddled with arthritis, he was often incontinent, and he couldn’t get comfortable sitting, standing, or lying down. His eyes were still bright, but they were tired, and over the last three weeks or so, he started to tell us it was time. We talked about it for weeks, and last weekend, we decided what day…
June…was a whirlwind. I took two separate weeklong trips, started marathon training, ran my first obstacle race, and weathered a scary medical emergency with one of my best friends. This past Thursday I returned home from Orlando, Florida where the Dennehy dancers had another successful North American Championships – and now I’m teaching myself to slow down. I’m rediscovering that blissful feeling of sinking into my couch while digging my bare feet into the downy softness of my favorite rug,…