Posts Tagged ‘www.karinastephens.com’

PJ Stephens

Forget growing old gracefully, I think growing old happily is a better goal to aim for and I think I’ve found the secret to how to make that a reality and I learnt it from my dog. 

Ageing gets a bad rap these days. The desire to stay young and maintain our youth is a multibillion dollar industry BUT there is an upside to ageing and it’s the most liberating, freeing feeling imaginable 

As the mother of an ageing dog I can tell you that it isn’t all roses and candy. For one there is the blindness that comes with the onset of cataracts. This means that stairs are no longer something that are easily managed and therefore I, as the mother am required to carry my little bundle of ageing joy up and down them countless times a day. 

Another by-product of blindness is the bumping into everything and when you are only 1 foot high there is a lot to bump into down there. The opening of cupboard doors and low flying shopping bags are definitely danger zones and need to be approached with the appropriate head gear. 

Pools are a definite no, no and one slip of a wayward paw can lead to a life saving rescue of momentous proportions and a nominee for mother of the year award. 

Along with the blindness comes the deafness which leaves you in quite a predicament as to basic commands such as ‘come here’. Firstly he can’t hear me and even if he could, where the hell is here? Add to this a touch of dementia and one minute he is lying by my feet, then he forgets that I am there and does at least three laps of the entire house looking for me, all the while I am yelling out to him that I am here but he can’t hear me, so eventually I have to get up and walk over to him and touch him and bring him back to where I am sitting so that we can repeat the whole thing over again in 10 minutes time. 

To make matters worse there is the chronic coughing that sounds like an emphysema patient nearing the end. This starts before sunup and continues the whole day. I am sure that my dear departed grandmother who suffered from emphysema is somewhere in my little dogs body looking after me because he sure sounds like her. 

Visitors arrive at our home to be greeted by the little coughing white dog. They can usually take this but it’s the gagging at the end of the cough that sounds like a lung has just been extracted and landed on the floor that really puts them off. 

Along with the coughing comes the flatulence that seems to be forced out the other end by the cough, it’s like cough, fart, cough, fart……….and so on! The poor thing keeps looking around at his backside wondering what the noise is that is coming out and then trying to escape the smell that has permeated the air. 

To make matters worse there is the diabetes to contend with. Two insulin injections a day, 12 hours apart has become the norm for our family whilst we monitor his sugar levels and adjust them regularly with expensive trips to the vet, with whom our little man has become a favorite and a long standing paid up member. 

The leaky bladder is not the greatest thing to have to deal with and the spots on the tiles are a giveaway as to where the little guy has walked. And the grumpy moods remind me of my dad as he develops grumpy old age syndrome. 

When I try to tell him off for being naughty I tend to use the pointing, shaking finger as tone alone does not cut it now, although why I shake my finger I don’t know because he can’t see it, but it does make me feel better. In return I get a look of “Give me a break mum, I’m 70 years old for goodness sake, I don’t really give a s#%t”, and therein lies the best thing about ageing. You know longer care what others think. 

You’ve gotten to the point where leaky bladders and forgetfulness are the byproduct of a life well lived and deserving of respect. If others can’t handle it, it’s not your problem. 

So to all the people who say “for goodness sake, just put him down”, I bite my tongue as I know they are not ‘DOG’ people for any dog lover would know that as long as they have a quality of life and are happy they deserve the right to live. 

As his mother, it is my job to keep him comfortable and happy, just as if he were a human child. He has been with me for nearly 15 years. He has loved me and provided me with so many memories and happy times. Put up with my crap and never talked back, sat with me whilst my hearts been breaking and loved me through it all unconditionally. Some people aren’t that loving. 

He still follows me around the house, still gives me cuddles in the morning and greets me like an excited puppy when I come home. He still sits on my lap and lies at my feet and walks with me everyday around the block. Best of all, his still my little mate and he loves me unconditionally. 

The more years we get to live on this earth are years that are gifted to us. The bodily functions may start to retire and we start to slow down but this slowing down process enables us to go deeper into our souls. When we do this what emerges is a spirit far more enriched and beautiful than youth itself. 

So here’s to my little man, you are beautiful and your worth it!!!!
© 2010 Karina Stephens