Category: Life with Shayna
15Nov12 Shayna excited getting her toys by name
Considering the fact that two weeks prior, she was given a terminal diagnosis, and had been (to my eye) not far from it, to see this – to experience it, to feel her joy and love and warmth and optimism – was like cool water to my parched mouth. I have never known a more inspiring, loving “person” than Shayna.
Nov-Dec 2012: Select videos
A compilation of the best videos taken since Shayna’s awful Oct. 30 diagnosis.
16Nov12: A walk/run through the woods with Shayna
I’m almost speechless… but you can hear my delight, relief and joy in this 6:00 video. I’ve not seen Shayna run like this, for me*, in probably a year (*she tries to run for other people who throw her ball, to show off, but normally that’s a one or two run venture). I don’t know […]
Our brief, pre-surgical trip to Virginia Beach
(Sept 3) My impromptu venture to give Shayna and myself some pure joy, right before she goes in for surgery. Mission accomplished.
Standing at the intersection of hope, fear and gratitude
(Sept.1-2) Working to identify and reconcile conflicting emotions – and an idea for a gift for both of us, before Shayna’s surgery.
Acceptance of an unpleasant reality
It is so easy for me to believe that Shayna is always going to be as young and vibrant as she seems to be, forever. Until something like this happens.
10th anniversary weekend
Yesterday, April 7, was the tenth anniversary of my adoption of Shayna from the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA. A time capsule: Here are the first pictures ever taken of us, on April 7, 2002 (more): And here (1, 2) are the first videos I took of her, on the day of our adoption, and a week later. […]
25Mar12 Visit to the old SPCA, then the new SPCA
Today, I took Shayna to go visit the old Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA, ten years to the day that I first met her, after the long, long search for the “right” first dog for me. I knew the building had been abandoned for the past five or six years, since the new CASPCA had been built […]
08Mar12: Visiting UVa, showing where I used to “commune” with Mr. Jefferson about my first puppy
As I describe in my book, I met Shayna on March 25, 2002 when she was just a little baby. But in the weeks prior to that, I would occasionally visit the University of Virginia, as I was very new to the area, and there’s no end to the fascinating things to explore there, […]
01March12: Shayna and Dakota
Border Collies are known for their love of having jobs to do. For Shayna, a Border Collie mix, her job is (a) to learn to master the names of her many different toys, and to go get them and put them away by name, (b) to learn other tricks, and (c) to put smiles […]
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