passing of the torch..es...

This past week was a tough one for us, me especially.   When I was younger, I felt that I was better with animals than people.  I was really good with them...animals that is.  People...not so much.
I talked too much, I was insecure, I was a know it all, I wanted things my way....and I was your basic control freak.   Things that would drive the average person nuts....but not animals.  They just took everything in stride.
As I got older and discovered wine...started paying attention to my habits, I got better with people.  But, I still remain good with animals.   
God seems to put them in my path:  Horses with injuries or wasps stuck under their blankets...that was tricky avoiding those hooves, lost dogs in need of help, sick kittens found in parking lots, turtles on roadways, birds that had been hit or fallen from nests, lizards that got in the house or caught in the cold and needed a warm dashboard to warm up on. (said lizard also stayed in my purse until warmed up enough to be put on a plant outside of my classroom.) Even snakes and spiders caught in my home and released.   I'm not crazy, I'm just trying to remember that this is their world too.  Plus, I squish some spiders, just sayin....

Anyway, this week was tough.  Part of me felt guilty.  Our family has a morbid way of dealing with sad things...we joke about it.  We'd been talking about how the dogs were older and of when they were puppies and then of  new puppies and joking that "someone would have to go" in order to bring in a new family member.  After she died I couldn't help but think, "Maybe we brought Ginger's death on ourselves." 
I could easily have spiraled down from that last thought, and I did a little but then I decided to do something else.  
I focused on Mojo.  
He lost his best friend and his partner in crime, he was the Robin to her Batman (ok, BATGIRL but you get the idea.)    
He was so lost and depressed.  Looking for her, sniffing the air, searching the house....sleeping in her bed (WHAT?)  Okay, so he didn't sleep in her bed until the end of the week, and it was only once.  Ginger always chirped when she wanted to be let in.  He heard a chirp a couple times this week and ran to the patio door.  Once the door was opened, he would sniff the air and look at me like...."Well, WHERE IS SHE?"

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that loneliness could make him sick, so each day I came home and took him for a short walk.  He is arthritic and can only go down about 4 houses before we turn back but then he scouts the front yard for another 10 minutes.  He was thrilled and would go in and sleep for an hour afterwards.  Then I would throw a toy for him off and on the rest of the evening.  Basically, I made sure to play with him more.....I've become his play partner now that Ginger is gone.  

On Saturday, Dean and I took him with us to get donuts.   

Then, I made him some dog bones.  (He can't eat the giant dog bones Ginger had so I gave them to a dog I babysit.)  I found the recipe on pinterest, just 2 ingredients....wheat flour and baby food.  He loves them!  Notice how well he cleans the tile....yeah baby, now I don't need to mop.

As for Leo and Suki, they've noticed her absence too.  Both took turns sniffing her bed and looking for her.  Leo called around the house for a few days.  He sounded so sad, it was awful.  They always greeted each other.  She was his surrogate mom and the had a very strong bond.  Interestingly enough, by midweek, Suki was the one who took up greeting me at the door when I got home.  (Mojo sleeps too soundly now.)  

I've started a little mosaic for Ginger....something simple.  We have a little place in the angel garden picked out for her and I bought a little garden stake with a cross on it to hang her collar on.  

Today as we worked in the yard, Dean and I missed her presence.  She always stayed by our sides while we worked... and she always stole the plastic cups that new plants came in and destroyed them.  

Funny thing, today Mojo brought me one of the plastic cups.  He dropped it at my feet and looked up at me. I think he knew they were special but didn't know what to do with them.  Destroying them was Ginger's game, not his.  
It brought tears to my eyes because it was just one more thing that proved to me he misses her too.   His job was always to sneak out the gate... but today, he was the one hanging close....just like she used to do.