Sharing our stories…

I work from home and sometimes I need to get out of the house for a change of scenery. On Tuesday I was at my new favorite local coffee shop, Saint Monday, and was waiting to order my standard – an Americano. A woman walked up and said, “You’re Maggie’s mom aren’t you?” I turned, looked, paused for a moment and said, “I am.” She said, “I’ve just been on pins and needles waiting to hear how she is. I’ve been thinking of her. Good luck this week.” And then we continued to talk more. This was Susan from Cleverhood and Cleverpup. It was both funny and awesome to be recognized as a dog’s mom. 

Sharing Maggie’s story with everyone has been healing, cathartic and painful all at once. Of course, I’ve always wanted to share Maggie since the day I picked her up. She has a gentle spirit that puts people at ease. She is the embodiment of tender. It’s been profoundly rewarding to be her mom. 

Through my brief conversation with Susan and the texts, emails and comments I’ve received regarding this story I’ve realized that sharing our stories is what connects people. It’s the very fabric of our humanness. We might not see eye to eye on certain things but when people share a common bond, a common characteristic, a common like (or dislike) it makes us realize we are all one and we are much more alike than not alike. 

All this being said, I’m sitting at my desk with Cory next to me playing Fallout 76 and Maggie lounging in her bed. I love this family that we’ve created. I look over at Maggie, her paw is twitching – she’s in a dream state – probably chasing a squirrel in her mind. I keep thinking about what tomorrow brings. We have to bring her to the vet between 7:00-7:30am up in Waltham which means we’ve got to leave our place in Providence around 5:30am.

I spoke with my friend, Maggie’s second mom Kristen from K9 to 5, and she gave me hope knowing that I’m doing the right thing for Maggie (Doodle). She did tell me, however, that I cannot baby Maggie while she is healing. That will make her too dependent on me and will ultimately diminish Maggie’s happiness and confidence. This will be difficult because all I want to do is care for her but caring for her means treating her normal, not babying her, making her go about her life like she did when she had four legs. I will need to approach it like nothing has changed. She also mentioned that I should try not to be sad or angry about it all in front of Maggie. That will make Maggie think something is wrong and make her more anxious. I’m sure most of you saw the video where I was talking about how I was crying pretty hard and Maggie got up out of her bed, brought me a toy then went and laid back down. I mean how much more sweet can a dog get? So from here on out my tears will not be in front of her but behind closed doors. Sigh…. 

Anyway, we pick Maggie up Saturday morning and will bring her home. I am taking all next week off to be with her and to move into a new place since life loves to happen all at once. Next time I post I’ll have pictures of her post surgery and will write about the healing process and how she’s handling it. Thanks again for reading this. Thanks for caring. Thanks for allowing me to share my wonderful beast with you.