As I sit here on our couch typing, Max - our Husky - leans his head on me and waits for me to finish. This morning, I'm typing from the couch instead of the floor as pictured, but it's close enough. Our little dog, Ember, lay on the floor less than a foot away. She's ancient now; icky & ooky in terms of the creaks and groans of her slowly worsening arthritis. Ember has been with me a very long time - she's outlived two Malamutes
1 and is now working on her first Husky...
![Max keeps an eye on his fellow traveler, Ember, who was tired & 'ooky' that day.]()
Max keeps an eye on his fellow traveler,
Ember, who felt tired & 'ooky'
Why does this matter, or merit a diary? Because our pets are part of our family - they are part of who we are, and they help us be our better selves. They've helped by showing us how to care, how to forgive, and how to remain steadfast and true. Our dogs, in particular, have served as co-caregivers to us: they watch over us and our loved ones. And each other.
It reminds me of the way our furkids - Missy and Ember at first, then Jack and Ember after Missy passed - helped us care for my mother in law while she was still with us, as she fought the inexorable advance of Alzheimer's Disease.
Missy, Ember and Jack helped us significantly in our caregiving journey. They inspired the Woo Tales, which eventually found their way into Her Final Year: A Care-Giving Memoir - the caregiving book that Kossack Shadan7 and I co-authored with our wives, using diary excerpts, emails, personal journal entries and the like to share our caregiving journey with others.
This diary serves several purposes: the first, to let folks know that they can download a free Kindle version of Her Final Year right now, through Sunday. It's been well received: twenty-two 5-star reviews and two 4-star reviews on Amazon. If you know anyone facing, or engaged in, or who has completed the caregiver's journey, please share it with them. You don't need a Kindle device to take advantage of it - you can grab one of Amazon's
free Kindle readers, which are available for Android, Apple and desktop systems (both Linux & Windows).
The diary is to also share some additional thoughts on the furballs in our family, as well as wish everyone a very happy Mother's Day.
Jump the orange omnilepticon if you'd like to read on. If not, please share the links to the book & reader anyway - there's a good chance you know someone who could benefit from reading & sharing our journey.
Allons-y!
