Dear Friends,

This Blog entry is about six weeks after the fact but six weeks ago I was too “raw” to talk about it and now that I’m on the other side of it by and large or should I say “we” I feel sufficiently okay to speak of it.

Six weeks ago I was heading out the back door of my house with my two dogs to take them to the trainers when for a split second I left our backyard gate open and Emma must have seen something on the other side of the street that interested her and she took off like a shot.  Ozzie figured it was worth checking out so he took off after her and within a split-second they were both hit by a car.  Emma was four or five feet ahead of Ozzie and so she hit the car’s front bumper and rolled for about 20 feet.  Ozzie must have bounced off the side of the car but both of them were hit pretty hard and hurt pretty badly.

It was a terrible experience to see firsthand knowing that I was responsible for a split-second of carelessness on my part.  I carefully scooped each one of them up and put them in my truck and then brought Joan in on what took place. 

I drove them both to the vet and I was able to take Ozzie home but Emma had broken six ribs and had to stay overnight. Both of them were on antibiotics and pain medications for two weeks.  Ozzie is pretty much back to normal, his injuries were not as severe as Emma’s.  Emma still has two more weeks left where she’s supposed to be on “complete rest” to give the ribs an opportunity to knit back together again.  The x-rays showed that the ribs were not only broken but were shifted out of place so that they were about half an inch away from even touching.

Trying to keep Emma resting is an impossible task.  We have her on double dosages of tranquilizers each day and it barely put a dent in her hyperactive personality.

I know they are only dogs and what happened is pretty small potatoes when you look at the largeness of life.  It is amazing to me nonetheless, how our lives can change in a split-second.  Both Joan and I have a renewed sense of gratitude for those things that we simply took for granted.  We have a more significant acknowledgment of the fact that any thing that we have today could be gone tomorrow.  We are both grateful that we have a second chance with our dog’s.  Somehow we have a better sense of the value of things when they are almost taken away.

Love – your friend,

Don

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