Living With Gladys Full Time

Well the weavers of life’s tapestry have certainly chosen an intricate pattern to weave for me over the past few weeks.

After losing Laddie and being adamant that I wasn’t ready for a new dog and no no no a puppy in Gladys would be far too awkward, and if we were to get a puppy lets at least wait until the spring when the weathers better or maybe after Christmas. The lovely news is, we have a new puppy!

In our grief for Laddie we spent an entire day ‘not looking for a puppy’ on the internet and found this adorable little chap. Unbeknown to us he had already been given a home and had been dispatched and returned all in one day due to his new owners landlord not allowing pets so it seems that Archie had our name on him albeit he was all the way up in Yorkshire!  A lovely bit of synchronicity I think. So as you do, we drove to Yorkshire and back on my birthday and fetched (my favourite non word) Archie Sebastian Rhind home to join in ‘Living with Gladys Fulltime’.

So what breed did we go for considering our living environment?

A Cockapoo, lovely but too small, A Labradoodle, too curly for Alistair’s liking, A Collie, beautiful but no Collie could ever live up to Laddie, so we did the sensible thing and got an American White Shepherd! Think wolf, think polar bear cub, think German Shepherd but pure white and fluffy, actually think really quite big! To give you an idea he was 9 kg when we got him 4 weeks ago at 10 weeks old and he’s now 14kgs. He is though a real tonic and has brought a lovely energy to Gladys, he has also given Alistair motivation to get out in to the woods everyday to walk and soak up the energy from the forest so he is a valid contributor to Alistair’s healing journey.

Then the tapestry got a bit difficult, my Dad was taken to A&E after sustaining a few falls in his home and losing the mobility in his legs. They kept him in to run some tests. Mum has fairly advanced cognitive impairment and was deemed unfit to stay home alone, so sadly was  sent to stay in a care home whilst Dad was in hospital. Really difficult, especially when she says she’d far rather be in her own home, I can’t argue with her there either, there is nothing like being in your own bed. Its also tough because I promised my mum a long time ago I would never let her go into a home. The sad thing for me is it was done without my knowledge, ‘a fait accompli’ if you will, still she is being very well cared for and gets to see dad most days. Still, my poor mum

Then the worst bit, they discovered Dad has advanced prostate cancer which has metastasised into his bones and has become widespread. He is unable to walk and it seems that will not change, my poor Dad. The prognosis as you can imagine is not good.

Just to cap it all off, that same week Kirt was knocked off his bicycle by a car, luckily no terrible injuries were sustained and after a good long wait at A & E he was given the all clear and sent home bruised and battered with some hefty pain killers.

So thats where we are at, life is pretty chaotic at the moment, it seems I am juggling a million things, I had thought of postponing my studies for a year, but quitting is not my business and also I really enjoy it in spite of the heavy workload.

On the plus side, Alistair is in good shape, everything is working as it should and for me coming home to him and Archie in Gladys after a long day at work, college and hospital visits makes it all more manageable. Gladys is an oasis of calm in somewhat stormy waters I am grateful everyday for all that I have.