This is Why Army Wives Rock

Current mood: sad

Kori called me this morning and I could tell when she asked me to come over that something was very wrong. She told me she needed me to come take a peek at her Heeler pup, Holi, so I could tell her what I thought. I put our dogs up, grabbed my glasses and keys and went right over.

Kori (and Darin, her husband) has been my friend for just shy of six years. She moved in next door when her youngest, Dillon was just a few months old. It didn't take long for Darin to give Travis and I the stamp of approval. That just means that we didn't set off his psycho-meter, so we were safe enough to have over for the occasional barbeque. There have been many times where there was only one man between us to remove carcasses or move heavy things.

When I had my kidney stone treatments, she took my drugged-up butt to the commissary and just watched while I let loose on a foggy Percocet rage against the cashier for some reason which was important only to me. She doesn't let me forget that. My kids weren't even with me when it happened, but they could tell you the story because they've heard her tell it so many times. Travis was deployed, but she took care of my kids and made sure to stumble through the rocks between our houses in the darkness to make sure I took my meds when I needed them.

When I had cancer, she was there to help Travis and my parents with everything. She drove kids to and fro, she checked on me, she ran errands and never kept score. She understood my favor mantra: it all works out in the end. She also applied it to our relationship.

Those are only a couple of examples of the kindness she has shown me and my family. And, I am one of only two non-family personnel allowed to watch their kids. The other is Travis.

I knew Holi hadn't been feeling well, but we thought it was nothing serious. She hadn't had her first heat cycle yet, so that idea was on the table. She's a chewer so we wondered if she had gotten into or ahold of something which disagreed with her tummy. We looked up various afflictions based on her symptoms and they all pointed to taking her to the vet.

I had a prized Endocrinology appointment with my new doctor (I really miss Dr. Oliver) this afternoon, so after an hour or so at Kori's, she headed for the vet and I to the house to get ready for my appointment. As soon as I hit the first light between our houses I felt awfully guilty about not going with her to the vet. I got home and showered as fast as I could. I got dressed, did my hair and called her to tell her I was on my way.

She giggled when I told her I was coming because Erin and Jessica were already there. So when I got there the door to Holi's exam room was open and there my girls were. Holi had been triaged but they were waiting on the doctor to come find out more. After a while Jessica had to leave to pick her little one up from his first day of pre-school and not long after that the doctor came in. He assessed her and ordered tests to see if there was a bacteria or parasite involved. The tech took her from the room and the tests were done and they returned her to the room.
I'll spare you the details, but it was pretty clear after that the situation was more serious than we had thought before.

Eventually the doctor returned with the diagnosis. Holi had Parvo. Ultimately, the doctor and Kori agreed on euthanasia. By the time they had her catheter in place, Jessica had returned from picking up her son. So, there we were, four Army wives from different backgrounds and different age groups, three of us joined for the simple purpose of helping our friend get through the day.

And it was a rough day.

Currently listening : What About Your Friends By TLC Release date: 1992-11-13