Food for thought...

I have a thing for Ghandi quotes.  I especially like "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."  Intent means so much in terms of your character and your impact in the world you live in. Are you in this life for what you get out of it yourself?  Or your own personal gain?  I feel that we truly achieve when we live a live that brings great joy to others, also bringing great joy to ourselves from our own accomplishments which improve our world, without tearing others down.

 It has been a tough night for me.  Yesterday, Remington was sick.  She got worse in the evening, despite seeming like she had been holding her own.  Charlie help load her in the car, Bailey wanted to come to the emergency vet with me.  I thought she needed more rest, Charlie felt if she wanted to go, it would be good for both of us. 

Remi was still very responsive in the car, trying to connect with us and be pet.  When we got to the vet, they took her from my arms and back to the ICU.  When they had her set up, they let Bailey and I see her for a moment.  She was tired, but wagged her tail and lifted her head to see us.  As the initial tests came, they thought she was a diabetic in crisis.  Then the test results didn't match, they thought Addisons disease.  The docs said they were going to stabilize Remi girl and let the specialist look at her at morning rounds.  When we got to say good night, over three hours after our arrival, she didn't look good to me.

We got home, and Bailey to bed, and I filled Charlie in, crying.  I knew she was getting worse.  We had been worried about the stress of being there on her.  She hates being away from her friends and duties here.  But she had needed to go, and would not have gotten better at home.

Early in the morning, the phone rang, she was deteriorating.  They wanted to get my definition of lines to draw on heroic measures.  Within five minutes they called me to come back.  I had barely had time to fill Charlie in, let alone put shoes on.  I headed for town.

Remington Pups, or as we called her, Remi (among a host of nicknames she answered to)  made the world a better place.  She never let me go outside alone at night, or any other time, for that matter.  She hated when i went out for cardio without her, and would cry.  She helped me get through bottle feeding, and warmed baby chickens which fell into water bowls.  Bad day?  Remi nose in your lap.  Not feeling good?  Gentle kisses and someone right next to you.  Scared, she had your back, front, and everything else.  Stranger at the gate? They had better not reach over or they were losing blood.  Can't find old man Vegas?  She is on it. Goat won't walk?  She will walk behind it. Going for a walk with the kids?  Sure she would love to run with Wyatt, as long as she could still see me.

Remi was also a toad licking stoner dog, who my husband reminds me had more lives than we can count.  One time, while Charlie was away, she had such an awful seizure that Bailey and I were up all night working on her.  With Wyatt checking in on her in intervals hoping we could keep her from dying.  She was a living, breathing example of your brain on drugs, but at the same time coud round up goats or pull baby chickens out of trouble.  And I was never alone.

Remington, as goofy and crazy as she was, was also so much of the best this world has to offer.  The kind of friend we all wish to emulate and be for our friends.  When I came inside from watering the greenhouse, I saw Bailey had some quotes up on the computer screen.  I thought it was a good reminder to me, to go along with giving this life all the energy it deserves, throwing myself all in.  "Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity."  That was Khalil Ghibran.  Friendhip isn't about social climbing or giving you something, but about what the relationship brings as a whole, greater than either of the parts.

Remi, like many in my life, made me a better person, a less frazzled military wife and a more patient Mama.  Now it is for me to honor her memory, and help her friends whi miss her like I do.Remblers, Remsworth Remi-bemi-bo-bemi was an awesone working dog, and better friend and family member.  I will always love you, little goofball, and you will always be a part of me!  And of all of us!