Do you realize
That happiness makes you cry?
Do you realize
That everyone you know someday will die?
The knowing doesn't make it an easier. My dad is hanging on at the VA hospital and when I spoke to him today, he was hopeful that they would be discharging him to home this week, which is his wish, but I think we are waiting to find out if he gets an in-home caretaker provided that isn't my mom. And any care at this point is just palliative care as he has been weened off all of his meds. That is just a daunting thing to think about and so I really don't think about it as much as I can avoid it.
But this week we're making the decision to euthanize Kiwi. She is my 22 year old cat. She was my second cat, who I adopted to keep my first cat Syndey company when I was at work. Tragically, Sydney was hit by a car, and after that, Kiwi has outlived my dog Pascha, and my other cats Monkey and Boo Radley. Kiwi was born from a cat whose owner thought she was a boy until she had kittens. That cat was owned by my friend's aunt and has had a picture featured in a Dia De Los Muertos alter since she died at 21 years old. Longevity, it would seem, was in her genes. But it's time. Every time we've thought it was time before, she would surprise us and go outside, gingerly making it up and down the stairs on her own, just to sniff around the yard and walk with the grass underneath her paws. Today she spent a lot of time outside, we think to find a place to die, but Darren brought her back in and she ate dinner as usual before disappearing back under the bed. But it's clear she suffering and like they always say at the Zoo, we don't want her last day to be her worst day. So she has another night or two with us, and then we say goodbye. There is only grief in preparing for grief.
And instead of saying all of your goodbyes
Let them know you realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round
Flaming Lips
Stay safe out there.
- COVID-19:
- COVID-19 vaccinations up 30% in 1 week, deaths down 8%: 9 CDC stats to know - Becker's Hospital Review (10.8.21)
- Vaccination-related employee departures at 25 hospitals, health systems - Becker's Hospital Review (10.10.21)
- News:
- Southern California Spill Response Media Updates
- Tar Ball Reporting Line 1-866-985-8366
- Report Oiled Wildlife 1-877-UCD-OWCN (1-877-823-6926)
- Oil, Tar Assessments Continue in Shoreline Areas
- The Unified Command is continuing its response Sunday to the coastal oil spill in Orange and San Diego Counties San Diego County Emergency
- Snow leopard dies, five remaining big cats have COVID-19 symptoms at Sioux Falls zoo - SDPB (10.8.21)
- State Parks illegally opens 300 acres of Oceano Dunes snowy plover habitat to vehicles - The Tribune (10.8.21)
- Southwest flight cancellations affect travelers in San Diego. On Saturday, the airline canceled a total of 808 flights across the United States; as of Sunday afternoon, they had canceled over 1,000 more. - CBS8 (10.10.21)
- Other Reading:
- A woman was given 4 days in jail for getting too close to grizzlies in Yellowstone - npr/kpbs (10.10.21)
- Government:
- White House
- State Dept
- Global COVID-19 Stats (JHU 10.10.21 10:21 pm):
- 237,860,699 Known Cases/13,102,598 28-Day New Cases
- 4,851,749 Known Deaths/220,860 28-Day New Deaths
- US COVID-19 Stats
- CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Data Tracker
- American Academy of Pediatrics Children and COVID-19 Dashboard
- JHU
- 44,339,764 Cases/3,278,243 28 Day New Cases
- 713,228 Deaths/52,434 28-Day New Deaths
- CDC Data Tracker (Data from 10.9.21):
- +106,296 New Cases/44,217,318 Known Cases
- +2,196 New Deaths/711,020 Known Deaths
- 487,277,035 Doses Delivered
- 401,819,240 Doses Administered
- 216,889,814 Partially Vaccinated
- 187,215,471 Fully Vaccinated
- 56.4% of Total Population
- 66% of Population ≥ 12 Years of Age
- 67.8% of Population ≥ 18 Years of Age
- California COVID-19 Stats:
- State of California Safe Schools For All Hub
- Vaccination progress dashboard
- Coronavirus: Resources for Californians
- R-effective: 0.81
- San Diego County
- Free Testing Sites and Schedule in San Diego
- Vaccination Locations San Diego
- Vaccination Dashboard
- COVID ActNow Daily Updates for San Diego Metro
- San Diego Unified School District COVID Dashboard
- CDC Data:
- 1,683,294 Fully Vaccinated
- 50.4% of Total Population
- 58.8% of Population ≥ 12 Years of Age
- 59.1% of Population ≥ 18 Years of Age
- State Data:
- R-effective: 0.75
- County Data:
- 528 New Cases/361,039 Total Cases
- 0 New Daily Deaths/4,113 Total Deaths
- 2.3% Daily Test Positivity/3.0% 7-day average
- 9 Day Over Day COVID-19 Hospitalizations
- 1 Day Over Day COVID-19 ICU Patients
- Universities:
No comments:
Post a Comment