This video is a true testament as to how far Henry has come. Henry had never been one to shy away from bridges or boardwalks or other unusual flooring conditions. (But boy the same would have given Benny a coronary and sent Luna into a tremble attack.) But Henry has never been a fearful guy and has even enjoyed challenging himself to do daring stunts and adventures. With that said, since Henry's hard year.....he had lost a bit of his mojo. So, that brings us back to the video. You can see Henry working his way across the slatted bridge, He's not confident but even as recently as a month ago he would have gotten to the first slat and put on the pug brakes. (You know what I mean! When if you pulled him, all you would get is his harness coming off over his head like you would take of a t-shirt.)
Anyway, not long ago Henry would not attempt this. Now he's not only attempting but working it out. I am not sure if the sun and the shadows are helpful or harmful to his ability to navigate in this scenario but I'm leaning towards that they are not helpful. We did not record his whole trip across the bridge, but you can tell that he is progressing. A la Henry style: Slow & Steady. I know I keep mentioning this but we have known since puppyhood that Benjamin & Henry were the tortoise and the hare. Benny ran fast and furious and Henry had always moseyed. So, the bright light that was Ben burned out quickly and that is why the continuous warm glow of Henry is still plugging away.
Here you can see the PO PO in the rear view mirror. Whenever we spot the police on our travels (and with Henry hanging out of the window) we always remind Henry "play it cool, pug, play it cool." Don't let this photo fool you, though. The Sheriff was not after us. We did not get a ticket, get stopped or commit any wrongdoing. It is just coincidence. But since we have been talking a bit about the police lately, we could not resist sharing this oddly coincidental photo!
What is funnier, is that if the PO PO are the police, are the Port Orange Police the PO PO PO? Or is that the tri-PO or triple PO or 3 PO? Ha! Who knows? Anyway, there was no reason for the PO PO to bother us and we continued safely on our route and it was an uneventful journey.
It is with heavy heart that we mark today as being the one year anniversary of the loss of our dearly departed Benny Boy. It is almost impossible to believe that it has been a year. In some ways it still seems like yesterday, but in other ways it seems so long ago. It is crazy how your mind plays those tricks on you. Some of the things we miss most about not having Ben around? His constant licky face sharing. His total unconditional love. His warm heart and expressive eyes. His to die for wrinkles. His sense of humor. His sensitivity. His cuddleupness. Just the way that he made you feel like you were the only person on the face of the earth that mattered and that you were wonderful. And honestly, the house was cleaner when he was here! Now there are crumbs on the kitchen floor that linger. Spills that we have to WIPE up?! He was such a terrific boy all the way around.
Our vet recently asked me a question about my favorite photo of the boys (shown above). He asked me if that photo is photoshopped. He was shocked that the photo is a true and accurate depiction of real life. That was Benny! Benny living like a wild man! Flying off a child's sliding board to hopefully spark his brother Henry to chase him. (When in reality, Henry just pummeled Benny at the end of that scene and then they both rolled and tumbled and ran like crazy men around the playground. Luna stood wide eyed on the sideline trying to see how she could partake in the lunacy. Benny just wanted Henry to play play play. All the time. "C'mon Henry! Just play with me!" Benny would coax (if he could actually talk that is what he would say).
So, it's been a year without that lively spirit and heartwarming love....
Benny was all wrinkles, all the time. He knew how to work those wrinkles to get anything his little heart desired.
All Benny wanted was to be loved by Cupid. He never understood why taking over her makeshift cat bed or eating her toys never brought them closer together.
On guard! Benny was the watch dog. He was always keeping an eye on things. Had anyone ever breached the permitter he never would have done anything about it except offer them a warm greeting, but he was always alert.
Forever the Pillow King!
Benny hanging out with Lou C.
Never too far from puffy.
And of course you can never forget his love of pumpkin bread (or food in general).
We have a "flex" room that is just off the entry way to our house. This room has multiple uses. It is a relax room and has recliners for extra relaxing. It also has an open floor where we can do a light in home work out (no real equipment or anything, just floor exercises/exercise with a video type of thing). This room also has a love seat. This love seat would be the popular pug place to sleep while the OBP peeps worked out or tended to types of quiet work or play (reading, laptop work, etc). This room has not been used much lately and when it is used Henry has not really wanted to be in there. Recently, however, I was doing an at home workout and Henry came and looked up to the loveseat as if asking to be picked up and placed there. I happily obliged. This is great sign to us, actually. That he knows where in the house he is, that he wants to be "up" on something that he could potentially fall off of, that he wants to settle near us even when we are not right beside him are all signs of great progress for the blind old boy.
So, there is Henry. Resting on a love seat that we thought he'd probably not enjoy anymore in life. Henry is bouncing back in so many ways. Slow and steady was always his motto and it still hasn't changed. #HenryStrong
In case you have been wondering.....Henry's corneal scratch (or should we say "chunk"?) is healing. It has indeed been a slow process. A process which has required several more trips back to the vet for follow up. (We had to be sure it was indeed healing and that is not something we can spy with our own naked eye.) The good news is, so far, we have not needed to venture beyond our own general vet. If we had to make these frequent trips to our eye specialist it would have been bad news. (Seriously, who can take 4 hours a day off every other day for 2 weeks without suffering some recourse at work?) So, we have been lucky that Henry is healing his Henry way: slow & steady. The way he does everything. But it has worked for him this long. So, why change now?
Henry will keep healing and we will keep dosing him and hopefully it will all be fine again soon. (I doubt night trips with his head out the car window are vet approved or good for his healing.) But they are more good for his mental health and that is what we need even more than a quick healing eye these days. So, we gotta take what we can get and sometimes that means making trade offs.
