Well it’s taken a while to get back to my Photo Journal and so much has happened in the past four months. After the move was completed and life began to return to normal, hearts began to heal, thinking clearly was easier, optimism seemed normal again and the new house began to feel like home.
The holidays were rapidly approaching, Emma, one of my daughters, would soon be home from University for the holidays and all seemed fine at the moment. Then sometime in the early part of November our dog, Eli, began to exhibit signs of not feeling well. Golden Retrievers don’t typically age too well and he was 10. By the week of Christmas Eli couldn’t move much as two large tumors had taken over two vital organs and we had to make the difficult decision to let him go. He passed just a few days before Christmas. He was certainly one of the most loving creatures we have ever known. It was just heartbreaking and he is missed.
For me and really all of the family, this moment felt like more pain than we wanted having just finished and come out of the past few months of turbulence. But, once again, here we are faced with pain, sorrow, difficult decisions and again the only path forward is to continue moving on with optimism, hope, plans for the future (a new puppy maybe), and dreams.
November saw a short trip to Indianapolis, Indiana to see my Grandson’s campus at Indiana State University, hang out with Erika, my other daughter, granddaughter and Jim,
and eat some delicious food. Friends, dinners out, drinks and a friend with a new baby took up the rest of November.
Decembers holiday spirit, with family and friends, theater and baked goods was somehow a little less joyful this year. The move to the new house and the struggle to get here and the loss of Eli cast a shadow over my heart. I know things are better than they were and that our strength and optimism got us through a difficult time but in some way it zapped my energy and I feel a little more tired than I used to. I’m looking forward to the warm, spring and summer months ahead.
As noted, it’s been a while since I’ve updated my journal. As I write this short missive covering November and December 2019, it is now March 2020 and the CoronaVirus Covid-19 is upon us. We, here in Washington State, are pretty much in ‘lock down’ mode. So with nowhere to go, now seems like a great time to get caught up on all those little things that are always bugging you.
Tom
Tom's Photo Journal 