A Hard Week

Sometimes life just hurts. This week was one of those times. When Jamie called me Wednesday night and said, "We need to talk about the dog and the house," I knew the news was not going to be good. It wasn't. My special dog, Baby, had been ill for a few days, and Jamie was planning to take her to the vet.

After the doctor examined Baby on Thursday morning, she called me in Michigan with her diagnosis. Not only did Baby have a nasty digestive tract infection, she most likely had Cushing's Disease. Knowing that Baby's sibling has Cushing's, and knowing that I could not realistically pay for the expensive tests and treatments, I felt that I had no option other than to euthanize her. She has not been in good health for some time as she has been on seizure medication for several years. I knew when I left her in Mississippi that I might not ever see her again, but I never expected to have to put her down. Thursday was not a great day.

For eleven years, Baby has been my constant companion. No matter what I was doing, she was always at my side. She hung in there with me through all of the dark days and nights, comforting me and making my world a much brighter place. She will be most sorely missed. Goodbye, my sweet Baby girl. You will never be replaced.

About the house...

Frequent readers of this blog are aware of how emotionally attached I am to Daffodil Hill. Having built it with our own hands twenty-one years ago, Papa and I never expected to leave there for any reason. Even after Papa died, I steadfastly refused to give up our family home. My children have been even more adamantly opposed to selling it than I. Even after plans were made to take this job in Michigan, we fully intended to hold onto the house. Jamie has been living there in my absence, and all of the children have made a valiant effort to take care of the place. It's very much a part of who we are as a family.

However, my children have come to the realization that keeping a house in the family is not equivalent to making it a home. With Mama and Daddy gone, things just are not the same. Papa is never coming back, and the likelihood of Mama ever living there again is not much greater. The large house has quickly become a burden to them as they have struggled to pay the bills and maintain the property. When they were all together last weekend they sat down to discuss their options, none of which was desirable. In the end, though they were all devastated, they felt that the only reasonable thing to do would be to sell the house.

I have instructed the children to go through the house and take or speak for anything they want as soon as possible. Some items are to be sold immediately. Other things will be sold as time goes on. Arrangements will be made for an appraisal in the near future. This is not what any of us wants, but truly there is no viable alternative. Papa's death has forced all of us to make some difficult decisions, this one perhaps the most difficult of all.

So, yes, it has been a very hard week for all of us. Life as we knew it continues to vanish at an astonishing rate, but we can't hold onto the past. Individually and collectively we must face the present realities and look to the future with hope. We have one another, we have our memories, and we have a loving God who carries us day by day. Nobody can take those things away from us. Daffodil Hill may cease to be our home, but it will always be a large part of who we are. We are still family. We are still blessed. We will survive this loss as we have so many others - together.

Please keep us in your prayers.