We’re down to the last few weeks of this 2016 misery campaign. It has not been one thing; it has been everything at the same time. I will not get into details, but I will say this: I am glad this year is ending soon.
2016 was the most challenging year in recent history for my household. We managed to make it through intact and are looking forward to making next year better; that should not be a difficult task.
Outside of us adopting a ketogenic diet lifestyle, which led to my wife and me losing close to 100 lbs combined (me being the majority – I had a lot more to lose!), and got our health back in order, not much else went right this year.
There were family ties severed, illness and death to contend with, TRUMP, and strangely enough, the thing that affected us most is the loss of our beloved Winston.
Sir Winston, 2001 – 2016
Winston was more than a pet. Winston represented a period in time, maturity, the start of our family, the added responsibility of caring for something other than you, the proof that you could keep someone (something) else alive. That little dog created an impregnable and magnetic bond with my wife, so naturally, his loss affected her deeply. After all, as my wife says, Winston was our first baby.
Our house now seems a little quieter and a little sadder without our moody beagle running around baying, barking with excitement as feeding time approached, stealing or trying to steal food, or simply coming close to you and putting his head on your lap. Even my German Shepherd Fedor acted affected.
Fedor & Winston, 2016
My GSD spent close to 2 weeks seemingly looking for Winston. He would whine as he opened doors, ran outside and back in, smelled the doggie beds and searched the yard. I say seemingly because there is no way to know, but we thought this might be what our GSD was doing because he never acted like that before or since.
Being that Fedor had never spent a day in his young 2 years without Winston, we concluded that this affected him more than we expected or even thought possible. We tend to underestimate animals and the degree that they feel or think. Sir Winston and now Fedor help us appreciate that these little animals posses a wide range of emotions, including sadness and loss.
This will probably be my last post of 2016. I wish everyone who reads this (all 3 of you) a great ending to this year and a fresh start to 2017.
I leave you with this, from the Urban Dictionary:
Glad to see my household wasn’t the only one feeling 2016!
