We can't all just keep posting in that first thread, right??? We actually need to make some posts

(Okay, I just spent 30 minutes typing a post that got eaten. Grr. This one will OBVIOUSLY be less awesome, but whatever... :p)

First thing, for those folks who aren't "alums", but new folks... The experience I had with Sam in his final months was one of the most amazing, frustrating, soul-touching, and life-changing journeys I have ever been on. This is not in the least a cheesy exaggeration when I say that it altered how I see the world, and how I think about our time here.

Understanding not just living well, but dying well. Learning to Be More Dog . Living in the moment. Making hard decisions with compassion and with the knowledge that sometimes what I WANT to be and what needs to be are not the same.

Sammer gave me lots in the 13 years we were together. Companionship. Entertainment. A should to cry on. Dead things. But the lessons I learned in that six months are probably the most amazing, and I will carry them with me forever.

Now...sad reflection time over As I've always said when I talk about Sampson, and about our time together...NO SAD TEARS. Our story was a happy one <3 <3

ANYWAY: so as not to disappoint Sally, here is our update! Gryphon, who was born the week Sam died, just turned 10 months old. Hard to believe it's been that long--since either event.

In many ways, Gryph reminds us of Sammy--that sort of half-lidded, dopey look he gets when he's zoning out. All the grumbling and talking to himself (he has earned the name "Piglet"...in a tribute to Big Pigs ;-)). His dirty perv fondness for ladies. His additional fondness for rabbits (and their lack of reciprocity for said feelings). 

In other ways, though, he's very much his own dog. He tends to be more affectionate/outgoing with us, but far more reserved with strangers (well, except for his lady friends...those, he sometimes pees on in excitement :p). And after 13+ years of running to lock the door any time a drop of rain threatens to fall 30 counties over or when the neighbor fires up the Lawn Master Leaf Blower, and 13 years of July 4 surely heralding World War III-World War XVI, and also possibly the apocalypse and End of Days...it's strange to have dogs who are completely non-reactive to any sort of weather phenomenon or noise situation.

I haven't updated the blog in awhile, so here are some fairly recent photos.

10 months old; 95 lbs...and probably most of that head. :p

In one of his "observatories"...supervising people, and looking dopey.

He is a TREMENDOUS nosy parker. If you can't hear him, it's b/c he's either A) causing trouble or B) spying on you. Occasionally B is so A can happen. Here he is monitoring people at work

At the park with Sadie, who is clearly embarrassed to be seen with him.

Hanging out on the deck..."helping" Pat grill, and waiting to eat the "meat dust" (aka ash pile) that falls out of the Weber grill. And also to lick the utensils.

Marking the late, great, Sam's 14th birthday with the traditional Jelly Bellys and beer.

"Can you hear me now?"

"HOW ABOUT NOW?????????????"

(And yes, I realize his nose makes him look vaguely porcine. It's as if the GEICO piglet and the Snuggle Bear had a baby.)

And, finally...Sally, you asked about Momo. Not a single vet thought he was going to make it to Christmas. And then it was not to New Year's. We brought him home, thinking we were getting a chance to say goodbye. But here we are, almost eight months later...and he's still with us. He regained his continence (thank GOD), he eats, he plays (in as much as Sir Laziness EVER played), he wears assless chaps. He is, in other words, still Momo. No one really has an explanation for it. His treatment is totally palliative--and, frankly, a bit unorthodox...but we're not messing with anything, since things seem to be okay. Why poke a sleeping dragon?

We understand that this is not forever. And that very likely he will never get to be an old cat. Or even much more than a middle aged one. But in the meantime, we spend our days enjoying what is and save our worries and our grief for another time. We are, after all, very well versed in being more dog

Here he is sneaking out into the yard a few weeks ago. Gryphon is deciding if he should escort him back inside...or manhandle him. Dog has no off switch when it comes to tormenting the cats.