I haven’t been corresponding much lately because we’ve been dealing with more loss and bereavement.

 Our sweet little dog Nessie turned out to be quite ill. I thought she was dealing with arthritis or some sore muscles because she wasn’t eating much and she wasn’t her usual energetic self. Eventually she became so lethargic that I called the vet.

 It turns out that she was very ill and I ended up taking her back to the vet less than a week later to have her euthanized. Such a hard thing to go through. Nessie was the mixed-breed supposedly healthy dog. She was going to live a few more years with me. The vet said it was probably cancer or an autoimmune disease where her immune system was attacking the red blood cells.

 We got Nessie when Nick finished kindergarten. Memorial Day weekend, in fact, so it’s an anniversary coming up.  Dave picked her out. She was living as a foster puppy in a barn in Boston Heights. Her brother and sister were there too. We often regretted not taking her sister when we adopted Nessie.

Nessie was a wonderful dog. She was so sweet but with just enough mischief in her to keep us on our toes. We will miss her mightily.

 Poor Nick and I are back to being heart-sore.