i am no calypso.

Matt’s dog, Belle, is the most gorgeous 10 year old golden retriever ever.  She is such a lady.  They’ve been best friends since he was 12 years old, when he got her.  She was a tiny tiny tiny little baby puppy.  I’ve seen pictures.  HUNDREDS of pictures of them and Matt’s younger brother growing up together.  He and I still take Belle out for hikes on my weekend days off.  His mother walks her every day and gets her groomed once a month.  They feed her cold cuts on her dog food because she’s so spoiled and such a princess that she won’t eat it any other way.  I bring her treats when I come over, they bring her treats when they come home.  She is the most loved person … can you believe that?  I actually typed “person” because Belle is no ordinary dog.  She is the most loved family member and pet I have ever encountered in my life and after knowing her just over a year, I know why.  She is perfect in every single way possible and she makes the love of my life incredibly happy. 

But Belle was diagnosed with cancer today, and it was found after it had already spread throughout most of her body.  So now we play the waiting game.  Wait until she stops eating, until she starts getting physically sick, until her loved ones eventually have to put her to sleep. 

I have never seen Matt genuinely sad before.  It breaks my heart.  I feel so terrible, I don’t know what to do.  I’ve had two dogs that I had to put to sleep and I know how bad it sucks.  He’s graduating from Mass Maritime after the 4 hardest years of his life, and two weeks before the ceremony he finds out that his best friend in the entire world is really really sick and going to die. 

I’m so sad.  Sorry and sad because I can’t really help him.  I know it’s impossible to make him feel better.  He just needs to go through this and it’s not going to be easy to just sit here and watch. 

:(