down the rabbit hole

Ryder was born in February of last year, one of seven choco lab/dane mix pups in Faith's one and only litter. She had pyometra from delivery on and died this fall, taking her last breath in my lap. Ryder is one of two who survived her, the other is either Joe or Bo over at Brett and Rodney's house. They took two, and one died. We kept the girl who grew to be huge in quite a short time due to her great dane heritage. Long gangly legs and webbed feet, she looks like a deer out in the sea of green wheat. She's always been skinny and had a bad case of worms which we treated and just assumed that she would "fatten up" after that. I was smooth in lala land last night when I heard a little whimper on the bed next to me and thought I was dreaming. Sounded like a puppy or something. I shifted around and felt a wet spot and realized that she was having BABIES right next to me. A bunch of 'em! Two of them died shortly after birth and as of this moment there are seven nuzzled next to her chest finally sleeping. She was so freaked out over this first litter thing that she jumped up on the chair and just sat there crying. She'd get up and go sniff 'em and then go right back to the chair. Poor thang didn't have a clue what to do. I can relate..my one and only delivery was enough to make a sane woman scream.

Thank the lort that I had several layers of stuff on the bed so it was a quick save. When you move a litter from the birthing spot like that, it takes a while for everybody to adjust. And how do I know this? Because I've been there, done that and got several t-shirts. Real animal lovers don't pass judgement on blood lines. So anyway we picked Mama up after hair and went to Applebee's for lunch which is a super treat for all of us. She barely managed to finish her tiny bowl of soup and sent the sammich home with us. The VA guy came today and that's all set so we shall see how things go. I'd like to be optimistic and think it's gonna be an easy ride, but I know that it's only just begun to get weird.

My mother is the sweetest lady you ever saw, a true southern lady who has dedicated her life to the finer things in life like family, food and fun. Holidays are special for her, especially Valentine's day because that's their anniversary. Fifty nine years on the 14th. If I had started at age ten, I could have never hung in with anybody that long. Frankly? I'd rather be alone unless there's not much drama and some financial support.