Dog Days

We had a great holiday filled with appreciations for the bounty life has afforded us. The low light of the weekend was Saturday night when Peter's father's dog, Eli, snapped at Jasper and bit him in the face. He put a puncture wound straight through the cheek, a second puncture hear his jaw, and a gash on the under side of his chin. We raced off to the emergency room, all the while working up how COOL it was that we were going to a hospital. Jasper wailed the entire time, completely understanding that the hospital was not a fun place to go at all. He kept repeating, "I'm OK, I'm OK," through his tears, as blood streamed onto his turtle neck which was covered, ironically, with puppies. As we entered the parking lot, he perked up when he saw the Christmas lights on the trees and said, "Look! Christmas trees!" Fortunately, the waiting room was nearly empty and a classmate from Brown who happens to work in the ER at Cooley-Dickenson hospital was starting her shift right after we arrived. With Khama's assistance and TLC, a lot of animal crackers, and many rounds of "Open Shut Them," we got through the whole experience in less than three hours. They wanted to give Jasper two stitches on his chin, but he had been through enough and Peter argued that he will enjoy having a cool scar, so we opted for a good flushing and steri strips instead.

Peter and I were far more traumatized by the whole event than Jasper, who was playing with the dogs the next morning (under careful watch). I was and am still overwhelmed with the realization that our safety is so fragile. We are always on the precipice of disaster or death. As a natural pessimist, I am constantly aware of this intellectually (and like to point it out to Peter as often as possible), but to feel it so deeply is another story. I am my child's protector, at least for a while, and need to be aware of this precious responsibility.

Jasper is doing well, doped up on ibuprofen and antibiotics. He will have a cool scar (or two) and a cool story to tell you all when he next sees you. It goes something like this: "Eli bit me. Grrrrr. (chomping of teeth) Like that!"