An Ominous Start for 2024

As I write this we are on the 4th day of 2024 and already the insanity of last year seems to have carried over.

This morning my sister-in-law’s dog, Rugby, passed at about 4:00 am. Her other dog, Rugby’s sister, passed last January to kick of the hell that was 2023 and here we are with what feels way too much like a repeat.

The only real difference was this time we could be there for her. Last year she came home to find Rugby’s sister had unexpectedly passed and she was frantic. There was little we could do but try to call their other sister which took some time and wasn’t met with much enthusiasm for helping.

This time she called my wife a little before 2:00 this morning crying that Rugby wasn’t breathing well. Now that we live nearby Joy was able to drive the hour out to her house and be with her when Rugby passed as well as stay to help her deal with it all today.

We came up here for family and I am very grateful that she was able to do that.

The other bright spot, if that’s even the right word here, was that Rugby’s passing wasn’t completely unexpected. She was nearly 17 years old and had declined significantly over the past few months. When I last saw her on Saturday she really couldn’t move much on her own anymore but my sister-in-law took every opportunity to make her as comfortable and happy as possible and she really did seem content when we saw her on Saturday.

I don’t know what’s next for my sister-in-law. She is single so her dogs were everything. That said, I’m really glad that we’ll be able to be there for her for whatever is next.