First, I want to say thank you to everyone who commented on my Friday post to say they hope I’m not in (tooth) pain. I’m not. The wisdom tooth has to come out just because it randomly gets infected, and the antibiotics are tough on my system when it happens.

Fingers crossed it doesn’t get infected between now and July 26th. Must stay away from sharp food.

So yeah. It’s been a month. And not in a good way. That’s my excuse for not blogging very much. I’ve learned stuff about myself this last month, not least of which is my MO tends to lean toward avoidance. This being the post I’ve been avoiding.

It started, actually, in March with Winston getting sick.

Yes, I understand if you don’t read the rest of this post. It doesn’t have a happy ending. Aside from the fact that my two nine-hour hospital visits (Tuesday the 23rd into Wednesday the 24th and all day Saturday the 27th) with Alex turned out okay. He was throwing up, which doesn’t play well with his heart condition, but a combination of Gravol and IV fluids got him back on his feet both times.

But yeah, back to Winston.

I just wrote and deleted everything that we went through. All the appointments and the tests. But all that’s in the past. What’s important is that he was a good boy. He protected our house like none of us ever could, and he loved us and we loved him.

I received a condolence letter from the vet’s office today, along with a paw print and a nose print on a piece of heavy paper. It wrecked me all over again.

Rest in peace, Winston Church Hill.