We have officially reached that time of year where if something is not done, it is next year's problem.
It's hard to believe another year is nearly passed by.
While I don't consider myself old, I've definitely been feeling my age lately; my wife and I had our church's new pastor over for supper the other night, and while we were chatting, it came up that he wasn't even born until two months after Sept. 11, 2001.
My wife and I both remember where we were on that fateful day; she was still working in Banff and my first wife and I were living in Calgary. The fact that our new pastor wasn't born until after that day of infamy forced me to take a minute.
The thing is, time stops for no one; just like a river will cut its way through the toughest stone, time flows onward as well, with its inherent challenges.
One challenge we are facing is the longevity of one of our senior dogs, a 14-year-old lab-husky named Rolo.
Some days, he has the energy of a puppy, and other days, he has trouble standing. Complicating matters, he has scoliosis in his back, which is causing weakness and muscle loss in his back legs. Just like the sands of time creep up on us all, old age is catching up with him, and we don't know how much longer he will be around.
He's been on a monthly shot, which has been helping him, but the last few weeks have still been a steady decline, and we are mentally preparing ourselves to say goodbye, at least as much as we can.
What makes it even harder is he was my sister-in-law's dog, and she passed in 2019; putting him down will be saying goodbye to another piece of her.
Unfortunately, it's going to come down to what is best for Rolo – we don't want him to suffer.
The vet did say there is room to go up on his shot, so we are going to try increasing the dose next time it's due at the beginning of January.
Still, with the decline he has suffered over the past few weeks, being completely realistic, Rolo's loss is something we have to prepare ourselves for in 2025, which is tough.
The sister-in-law's other dog, a 17-year-old pug-beagle named Taffy, is also getting up there, though the rate she is going, she is going to outlive us all. She has slowed down in recent years and definitely sleeps a lot more, but for the most part, still seems to be going strong. Still, she could go anytime, too.
There will be sad days when the two dogs are gone, and I honestly don't know if being able to prepare for their loss mentally is a help or a hindrance.
At this point, all I know is I am going to enjoy the time we have left with them and, unless anything drastic happens before, worry about those problems in 2025.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays from the staff at The Stettler Independent.
-Kevin Sabo is the editor of the Stettler Independent and a journalist for Black Press Media.
