Miracle Day

Romeo will have his two month ampuversary on October 17th. We just wanted to share what an amazing day he had yesterday and hopefully give some hope to new Tripawds out there–or those considering amputation.

We feel very lucky overall. Romeo has made a wonderful recovery. He has been running and playing, but early on we came to the realization he would probably never get his stamina back and those really long walks we loved or simply spending hours in the park would be precious memories. We were fine with that—just grateful to have our boy happy and healthy.

Well yesterday we decided to visit a small park that connects to some very expansive lawns on campus. It’s near our old apartment, where we first lived when we moved to New Haven. Coming from Vermont, we were always in search of green space! We used to walk there with Romeo regularly and he loved to take off across the magnificent lawns with New Haven’s famous giant elm trees. We probably haven’t visited there in over a year. Well Romeo was so excited—he took off three legs and all, no harness!He just ran and played, chasing sticks, even playing tug of war with my daughter—and tug of war is something he has not really been into for years. He rolled down the hill with my daughter, showing his belly, just acting wacky! I kept trying to get him to slow down and rest, but would not listen. He was celebrating life! Loving the fall air and having so much fun. I had to call my partner to to tell her to stop by on her way home from work. She just had to see Romeo! When her car pulled up he took off full throttle. It was almost surreal watching him run and run! Like he was trying out for the Tripawd Olympics!

As we were leaving, we ran into a dog that seemed so sweet, but was not allowed to say hello—her tail was wagging and she looked at Romeo so longingly. I don’t want to judge, but you know sometimes you get the sense an anti-social human is condemming their dog to the same life? Something in that dog’s eyes broke my heart, and I looked at Romeo and I can say he has had a wonderful life. I know his life will not be as long as we had expected, or as long as he deserves, but he’s had a good life.  And he’s known great joy!  After the surgery, we resolved to treasure every day, just trying to take it one day at a time, every day our beautiful boy is with us is a gift.

We expected Romeo might be a little tired today and he certainly was. No Tripawd Olympics tonight. Who knows if he’ll ever have a day like that again, but we’ll always remember Romeo’s great joy and amazing speed, his love of life, his miracle day October 6, 2009.

Author: romeo2

Eve and Greta, Romeo 10 year old golden/lab mix View all posts by romeo2