Goodnight, Sweet Boy

May your tummy always be filled with treats and your ears always be scratched just so.

The little man, as captured by Toby on a rainy day. Little old men are not fans of getting their paws wet, even on the posh streets of Manhattan.

We had an okay week. A few days were not so good, and when I was telling my longtime friend at work about it, he aptly said "It's hard, and, unfortunately, it's only going to get harder." And that really struck a chord, perhaps not in a good way. Taking deep breaths and trying to snuggle as much as the little old man can stand :).

Unrelated, but I am a huge fan of Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah. They are the wonderfulness behind the delightful National Geographic show DogTown. In any event, I was just on their site, and read this little entry, which had me sniffling quite a bit: http://www.bestfriends.org/guardianangel/index.cfm?csid=1879&csii=1883&csit=Set&entry=6517079C-05C0-9AF5-C46EBCB809A9C2CB

Iheartanimalpeople.

Larger Than Life!

I love this picture Toby took of the wee one today. I was a little afraid that I'd come home to find there was no longer room for me in the apartment that had been overtaken by a gigantic wee one (talk about oxymorons)!

The Little Prince Part Deux

"Who are you?" asked the little prince, and added, "You are very pretty to look at."

"I am a fox," the fox said.

"Come and play with me," proposed the little prince. "I am so unhappy."

"I cannot play with you," the fox said. "I am not tamed."

"Ah! Please excuse me," said the little prince.

But, after some thought, he added:

"What does that mean--'tame'?"

"You do not live here," said the fox. "What is it that you are looking for?"

"I am looking for men," said the little prince. "What does that mean--'tame'?"

"Men," said the fox. "They have guns, and they hunt. It is very disturbing. They also raise chickens. These are their only interests. Are you looking for chickens?"

"No," said the little prince. "I am looking for friends. What does that mean--'tame'?"

"It is an act too often neglected," said the fox. It means to establish ties."

"'To establish ties'?"

"Just that," said the fox. "To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world . . ."

"I am beginning to understand," said the little prince. "There is a flower . . . I think that she has tamed me . . ."

"It is possible," said the fox. "On the Earth one sees all sorts of things."

"Oh, but this is not on the Earth!" said the little prince.

"Go and look again at the roses. You will understand now that yours is unique in all the world. Then come back to say goodbye to me, and I will make you a present of a secret."

.................................................................................

The little prince went away, to look again at the roses.

"You are not at all like my rose," he said. "As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one. You are like my fox when I first knew him. He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world."

And the roses were very much embarassed.

"You are beautiful, but you are empty," he went on. "One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you--the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is she that I have sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars (except the two or three that we saved to become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or ever sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is my rose.

And he went back to meet the fox.

"Goodbye," he said.

"Goodbye," said the fox. "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with one's heart that one can see clearly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."

"What is essential is invisible to the eye," the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.

"It is the time you have lavished on your rose that makes your rose so important."

"It is the time I have lavished on my rose--" said the little prince, so that he would be sure to remember.

"Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose . . ."

"I am responsible for my rose," the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.

A Glimpse of His Old Self

The little old man started panting over the weekend and has been waking me up at night doing the same, which the vet explained to me is a sign he's in pain, which hurts my heart to think about my little soldier suffering at all. Thankfully it's not a regular occurrence yet and he otherwise seems to be okay in spite of the difficultly walking. I think the yoga mats that are laid out around the apartment are a huge help in giving him some traction.

In spite of all of this, I have, however, had two very special moments with him this week. Sunday night, he smiled for the first time in a very long time. And tonight when I was walking down the hall to the apartment I heard a certain little old man's very silly bark, which I have also not heard in a very long time. And to top it all off, he wobbled over to me as I was putting my stuff down and greeted me by pressing his face against my leg. Who has ever heard of such a sweet boy?

Wee One

This is hard. Today was the first day I was back at work and wee one was home by himself. Ultimately, I know he is acting differently, but I don't want to really come to terms with it. Aside from the fact that he has a hard time walking, he just doesn't seem to know what is going on around him, and I have yet to see his sweet smile. Today when I came home at lunch to take him out, usually when he'd be fast asleep he was standing staring at the kitchen. Perhaps willing the treats toward him :). And then when I came home later, he had slid off his bed and couldn't get up. And my heart broke. I knew he hadn't been that way for long since Toby had taken him out an hour or so earlier, but still. I need to call the vet, but well, I'm not really sure I'm prepared to for anything that might be next.

Can You Say Spoiled Rotten?

Umm, the little old man is back from his grandparents until Turkey Day, and I think it is very fair to say that he was spoiled rotten while staying with them. As proof, I give you the counter of my very tiny kitchen onto which my mother unloaded the contents of ONE of the bags full of Buster's treats.