Knights come in all shapes and sizes, and believe it or not, they don’t all wear those big, gaudy, tacky suits.
My sister is facing one of the most difficult experiences of her life in the next 24 hours. But she is an amazing woman. She is strong, she is brave, and she faces things head on. And that’s why this excruciatingly painful day is coming now instead of months ago. My sister is a true knight in shining armor, and she battled against a death sentence for her best buddy, Marlee, her 12 year old yellow Lab.
She may not think at this moment that she won, but she did. When vets were telling her it might be time to say goodbye, she Googled and web searched and found something that might help Marlee battle the cancer diagnosis she had been given. She took Mar for laser treatments, fed her a healthy diet, and gave her every opportunity to live well beyond the number of days the vets thought would be possible – with a quality of life they could not have imagined.
Marlee played, she got to enjoy another beach season and another snow season, she visited Dram’s house, where those bad for you foods get passed under the table as freely for granddogs as for grandchildren, and got cuddled by my kids, who love her almost as much as Meg does. She got to go to sleep in her own bed and wake up to her favorite people, smells, and activities. She got to wake up – way more mornings than she might have had she not been Megan’s dog.
No, not all knights sit at round tables, carry battleaxes, and rust if they play out in the rain. Some carry a wine glass, sit on the floor so they can cuddle better, and even the flow of tears that I know is falling tonight at Meg’s house will not cause her to rust.
She’s a true knight in shining armor – Marlee’s knight. And I think, if I’m honest, Marlee might have been Megan’s a time or two, too.