A Sick Friend

I've spent the last couple of days looking after a sick friend. Robbie has congestive heart failure and took a bad turn on Wednesday. He has a very kind vet who kept him yesterday and gave him IV Lasix. Last night was a lot better than the night before and we both got some sleep. Today is my day off and except for a little bit this afternoon when I'm meeting a friend for coffee he and I are going to be spending a quiet day at home. For the past eight years Rob and I have been pretty inseparable. He's gone to just about every Anglican church in our deanery. He likes to sleep in the choir pews and then pop down to listen to the sermon from the front pew (obviously not an Anglican himself). Church is one of his favourite places to be. He's really good at visiting folks who are sick or shut in too. For years we went to one of the nursing homes in town to visit a friend and he knew where her room was and would tear off the elevator in her direction. Of course it meant passing the dining room and sometimes the smell of lunch would distract him. I had one parishioner who would be very annoyed with me if I showed up without him. She kept treats on hand for him and delighted in the tricks he would do for her in return for one. He's a very good dancer.

I remember a sermon I heard many many years ago about whether our pets would go to heaven. The priest told the story of a young woman who didn't have many friends whose dog was killed by a car while she was at church. She asked if he would go to heaven and Fr. Bert said, this dog revealed to her that she was lovable and loved. How could he not be with God when he had shown her God's love for her. I loved that sermon. A few years ago on a retreat the retreat master asked us if we knew that when we came home God was running out to greet us and embrace us. I realized that I was reminded each time I came home to Robbie.

The vet said that if Robbie responds well to his new heart medication that he could live another couple of years. May it be so.