Writing and Other Afflictions

"If it was easy, everyone would do it." –Jimmy Dugan, "A League of Their Own"

Kobalt

We adopted Kobalt, a German Shepherd Dog (purebred, we later found), in October 2015. The rescue group told us they estimated his age at 4 1/2, but our vet thought he might be a little older. He’d been found as a stray on the streets of Sacramento, so we knew nothing about his background, but we quickly found that he must have lived in a house and been loved, because he was so good with people.

He lived with us for seven and a half years and was the very best boy we could have hoped for. There were frustrations and challenges, but he made them all worth it.

I’ve written a lot to try to capture the impact he had in our lives. Those posts are below a small slideshow of pictures. I would say these are our favorite pictures, but we have over two thousand and they’re all our favorites.

LATEST STORIES

The Value of Witness

Recently I decided to stop using the iOS Notes app to record things I might want to access in the future, due to learning that (1) notes are not automatically backed up to iCloud; you have to go into iCloud and turn on “Notes,” and then go into Notes and make sure everything you want…
What I’ve Learned

I’ve learned (again) that mourning fades but doesn’t end and that grief leaves scars. I’ve learned that I would rather live with the memory of loss than push it away. I’ve learned that if you’re afraid of forgetting someone, you can help yourself remember. I’ve learned that there can be comfort in dreams. I’ve learned…
What Now?

a eulogy He was a dog who did things his way. When Mark, Jack, and I adopted Kobalt in October 2015, I felt like he chose us. We drove two hours to meet him, a black German Shepherd dog who’d been found wandering the streets of Sacramento, and the first thing he did upon meeting…
The Good Smell (2023)

This story was published in Zooscape in 2020. It was always about Kobalt, but I named him Shadow in the story so as to make it, I dunno, more professional or something? Shadow was a name we discussed for him because he was all black, but also because he would follow us around from room…

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