Sigh. I'm writing this with such a heavy heart. Our little old-lady dog, much beloved and cherished by my family for so many years, is ailing, as she has now for the last two weeks. I've been nursing her to the best of my ability, but without improvement -- as such it's clear to us all that she's just not going to pull through this. With her quality of life in question, we're likely going to make the very difficult and painful decision tomorrow to have her put down. And while she is 15 after all, and has had what we know is a long and happy life with us, it doesn't make it any easier to say goodbye. In fact it breaks my heart, but we have to be strong and do what we understand is best. In any case, I know everyone is always declaring one's own dog as extra special, but trust me when I say that our little Katy truly is and always has been. Such a good, super sweet temperament all these many years, with amazing patience and loyalty, complete safety with kids, and real smarts. Never a speck of trouble. One of these days soon when I'm more collected I intend to compose a blog post in tribute to her....
In the meantime, on a happier note, I'm posting pics taken during my family's little weekend excursion to the megalopolis of Chicago last week (where, indeed, I got my Big City fix on. It had been awhile)....
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| Don't know what Chi-towners refer to it by, but I call it the 'Big Jelly Bean'. In Millennium Park. |
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| My Daughter, next to The Bean |
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| My daughter's and my reflection in the Bean, looking like a fun house mirror... |
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| The view from our downtown hotel, from the 24th floor (you can just make out the River in the distance) |
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| Waiting to take a downtown architectural river boat tour.... |
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| Making our way down the Chicago River. We were lucky the weather was so lovely. |
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| Passing by the well-known Tribune Tower, with its gothic topper... |
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| One of the newest additions to the CHGO skyline, the Trump Tower...... |
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| Marina City Towers -- I've always loved these.... |
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| Chicagoans call them the Corn Cob buildings --fair enough (but when I lived there I always referred to them as the 'Jetson' Buidings).... |
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| The massive Merchandise Mart building, in all its fine, Art Deco glory..... |
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| The Building Formerly Known as Sears Tower.... |
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| Another funky, round, reinforced concrete apartment complex, by the same architect as the Marina City Towers earlier.... |
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| Another view of the brand spankin' new Trump Tower.... |
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| The building here in the middle (behind the other two), called Aqua, is also new, and significant in that it's the tallest building in the world to have been designed by a female architect, by the name of Jeanne Gang (our hotel was across the street)... |
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| After our river boat tour, we took a stroll along Navy Pier, taking in the gorgeous Lake views.... |
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| We enjoyed the Stained Glass Museum at Navy Pier -- so many gorgeous examples of Tiffany Glass, and all of it backlit.... |
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| Another Tiffany glassworks, so pretty.... |
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| This caught my eye...a vintage glass window piece made from a collection of glass pot lids -- how cool is that...? |
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| There was a collection of these cast iron pieces for weary walkers to rest upon. Wish I could have a few for my yard. |
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| The Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier that, despite the earliness of the season, was up, ready and running, thanks to freakishly nice March weather..... |
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| And but of course we had to go on it. |
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| View from up in the ferris wheel, looking down on Navy Pier. Glad I'm not bothered by heights... |
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| What a great weekend trip....! |
8 comments:
Love Chicago!
sorry to read about your sweet pup. sounds like you loved her lots.
hugs . . .
Thanks for the tour of Chicago. Have never been there so it was great looking at the pics. About your sweet old lady dog (that's what I called my dog Chorizo when she got old), it is very hard to let go but you will do what you have to do so that she/he doesn't suffer. I know how you feel. I still miss my Chorizo and feel the pain of having to let her go. My thoughts are with you. God bless your beautiful family pet member, one of God's beautiful creations.
Autumn is looking so grown-up. I'm glad you enjoyed your weekend.
I'm sorry to hear about your dog. I still miss my cat that we put to sleep nearly four years ago.
Thanks so much for the comment, Rebeca. Indeed, loved her lots and lots -- so much so that we just knew we had to let her go when it was finally time. So yesterday we said our final goodbyes. RIP little Katy-Dog -- you were such a good soul and will be sorely missed. In any case it was truly touching to receive the kind comments here -- thanks again so much, Rebeca....
Thanks so much Gloria -- so glad to hear you enjoyed my pics -- indeed, Chicago is a really great town with a fabulous tradition of fine architecture, so if you might ever have the chance to visit I highly recommend the River Tour! ;-) Thanks also for the kind condolences regarding our little dog. It's very comforting to know we are not alone here in our grieving (sorry to hear about your 'Chorizo' -- and really, could there possibly be a cuter name than that?? ;-))-- it's simply something every pet owner will have to face at one time or another. It's amazing how all these little dickens just really wend their way into our hearts to become, like you say, members of our families. Well, as a family we are very grateful for all the years we had with her, and I know the pain of losing her will eventually pass. And thanks again, Gloria -- your words were much appreciated....
And Rebecca -- how nice to hear from you, thanks so much for the comment! And thank you for the condolences -- you remember Katy, yes (formerly Katy Schreiber)....? I know you are a cat person (and I'm sorry to hear about your kitty -- I do remember your kitties), not a dog person -- but I bet even you have to admit she was okay...for a dog, heh ;-). In any case, I enjoyed reading your recent blog entries, Rebecca -- hoping all is going well with the kiddos. I know these months have surely been chock full of transition and adjustment for all of you -- here's wishing you all the very best in health, happiness and wellness. Haven't had a chance to meet your children yet but I want to soon (and yes, speaking of children, Autumn is looking very grown-up these days! How quickly it goes!) Thanks again, Rebecca! :-)
The only place I have stepped on in Chicago was the train station. It looks as though I have missed a lot. I'd love to visit the museums and such. And the weather looked mighty fine for your trip.
So sorry to read of you precious Katy. It is never easy to think through the process of an aged pet person. Goodness knows I've had to do it too many times myself. :((
Lynn-Marie
Hi Lynn-Marie! Thanks so much for the comment -- really great to hear from you :-). Your comment about Chicago's train station made me smile -- yes, tons of really great museums and such. In any case what you said reminded me of an experience of my own when my family had a 5-hour layover for a connecting flight at the Tokyo airport on our way to Hong Kong. I've had a lifelong dream of traveling to Japan, and so here I was in Japan, but not really IN Japan. I remember desperately looking out the airport windows, trying to see ANYTHING, but only expanses of runways, heh (I did thoroughly investigate the airport at least). Oh well! Maybe I'll get another chance one of these days :-)
And thanks also for the condolences regarding our little dog. Gosh, that really was a hard thing to have to do and it still does feel pretty raw -- but it helps to know that we aren't alone. Just something that every pet owner will have to face at one time or another. And, it is getting a little better with each day. Thanks again, Lynn-Marie.... <3
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