Riley's last summer

Once the diagnosis was confirmed, and we realized that this was Riley's last summer, we decided to make it a good one. He got the best food, lots of attention, a spot on Mum and Dad's bed, two walks a day most days, cuddle time on the couch most evenings, whatever he wanted. Our motto was "teach a young dog; spoil an old dog". Clevelanders are known for complaining about the weather, but every day seemed beautiful to me, and I have the pictures to prove it:

June 25th: hospital visitors

June 27th: home again

July 4th: quietly celebrating

July 8th: the doctor said this might be more comfortable than the cone(?)

July 12th: allowed to climb stairs again (one of my fave spots)

July 30th: recuperating from second surgery (wearing cone and donut now)

August 2nd: hangin' with my girl

August 22nd: resting in the shade

September 8th: walking with my boy

September 13th: breakfast in bed

September 17th: sleeping with Mum and Dad

September 18th: if a tree falls...hmmm

September 18th: on the green

September 19th: dinner please

September 20th: back on the green

September 22nd: basking in my sunbeam on the porch

September 28th: we shall now enter the forbidden way

off-leash at Muggleton

playtime

the full armor of canine cancer can't keep me from power napping

October 1st: two old gents out for a stroll

October 3rd: hiding in the woods

October 9th: stopping to smell the flowers

October 21st: circular pats

November 8th, 2011: looking back over a good life

November 11th, 2011: snow falling on green grass

Today we had our first snowfall of the year. Watching that snow pile up on the grass, where Ri and I basked in summerish sunshine just three days ago, makes me think that God made summer last until November this year, just for us.