MY BEATLES

Slice of Life Tuesdays are hosted by TWO WRITING TEACHERS

Bill Maher once said that dogs are the only beings that will unconditionally treat us like we are The Beatles every time we walk in the door.  It’s so true.

As soon as I opened the car door and stepped into the garage I could hear his barking.  I tried to hurry through the process of gathering my bags from the car just to get inside and return his greeting.  Roosevelt (Roo for short) is a yorkie-poo who is not known for patience. 

I opened the door from the garage, walked through the laundry room, and opened the door into the hallway.  Roo jumped up and pushed off of my thigh, Flashdance-style.  As happy as I was to see him, his positive energy is contagious, I immediately felt alarmed.  Where was his sister?

Although Aurora, our miniature schnoodle, doesn’t quite match Roo’s superfan intensity, she is usually a wiggling bundle of happy waiting at the door by his side.  Usually.

A few weeks ago, during a routine trip to the vet, we discovered Aurora has heartworm.  It is potentially fatal and even the treatment process can be fatal in some cases.  She is going to be uncomfortable for the duration of a month’s worth of medicine to be capped off by a series of two shots of very dangerous doses of the final potential cure.  Although we caught it at the earliest possible stage, the outcome is uncertain.  To make matters worse, it is directly my fault for not regularly giving her the preventive pills that are sitting in my cabinet, untouched.

Without even pausing to drop my bags, I rushed past Roo into the family room, bracing myself for imminent disaster.  My eyes quickly scanned the area rug, the couch, the recliner.  No Aurora. 

Finally, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a fuzzy butt wiggling frantically side to side at the back door silently pleading for it to open.  I rushed over and delivered relief. 

As soon as the sliding door was closed behind both dogs, I burst into tears.  The stress of the past moment had built up pressure behind my eyes.   I needed the release. 

This time, I waited on the other side of the door to smother them with kisses, petting, and superfan squeals of joy.  

the insert from our Christmas cards this year, featuring the Beatles