No laughing matter

Last Sunday, I was sitting on the couch with Zoe-dawg and C, when I felt a lump on her chest the size of an olive. Now's the time I start making some deals with God.

Zoe has featured heavily in this blog, since I first started writing in it. That's because she's so much a part of our lives. If C and I go together like peanut butter and jelly, Zoe is the glass of milk that makes it all taste that much better.


The day I bought her home, I had no idea the impact she would have on my life. I've had dogs growing up, but I was never their sole caretaker. There wasn't that personal responsibility then as I have now. The love I've got for her is no more than the dogs I had as a kid, it's just entirely different. So when there's any indication something might be wrong with her, it shakes me to the very core.

I keep searching her eyes to make sure they haven't lost their sparkle. When I walk her, there's that undercurrent of waiting to see if her gait is any less bounce-y than before. As we wait and wait to see what the vet has to say, C keeps trying to reassure me that she'll be okay. She only had her routine check-up last month, so this insidious lump has really come out of nowhere and we've caught it early.

But I'm the Zoe-Momma and I will worry.

This dog is what got me through those difficult days when C was still in England and we were doing the long distance thing. There was no moping allowed when she had to be walked properly at least three times a day. There was no time to be sad when she was busy mooching around the park and running around like a bat out of hell once I let her off the leash. She kept me sane.

Even though C is now here, she's still my sidekick. A combination of feisty and sweet, she's my little pal. She lets C know she will share me, but only for a little while. Yet in her own ways, she lets him know she loves him too.

I've got tears going down my face as I type this, not because I'm scared - which I am, a little - but I've got this great big ball of love for what I've got. Me, C and Zoe - that's our crazy little family unit right there.

So start sending some good thoughts our way. Because this dog is Loved, with a capital L, and we're loved right back.