Dickensian Descent

R.I.P.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

I had a much different blog ready for today, most of which is below where I celebrate the joy we’ve experienced over the past few days as our dream of a beach front condo was being realized. We can also celebrate the anniversaries of both of my kids who generously scheduled their weddings on subsequent dates so I wouldn’t have any trouble remembering them. Truly the best of times. Then came the gut punches and worst of times.

Most seriously my wife’s close friend – the Virginia Musquetera, lost her husband as he succumbed to the mysterious collapse I wrote about in the last blog post. Our thoughts have rarely left the pain my wife’s sister of the heart and her daughters are going through and my wife’s frustration at being so far away. Then this morning Great Aunt texted me that Buddy the Wonder Pooch was in bad shape and descending. We FaceTimed and Buddy could barely walk. He stopped eating a couple days ago, was breathing laboriously, and couldn’t keep his medicine down. He was also bleeding from his nose.

I found it hard to credit that he could descend so fast as the vet said he could last a couple months and I’d looked forward to spending those last days with him. I couldn’t stomach seeing him in so much pain and so far from the lively Wonder Pooch who had wormed his way into the depths of my heart. Great Aunt, being the best sister the Good Lord has ever created, has taken it upon herself to get him to the vet’s today to end his pain. Some acts of kindness can never be fully repaid and it helped immensely to have someone who loved Buddy as much as I did with him. I was able to be with Buddy via FaceTime as he drew his last few labored breaths.

You’re going to have to excuse me if I rant a little bit here but Buddy was about as special to me as caninely possible and this qualifies as grief therapy. All of our other dogs have been family pets but Buddy was mine. I rescued him from a very bad situation when he was a year old and I was his third owner. I ascribe to the theory there are no bad dogs only bad owners. I think we found something special in each other as he quickly understood he was with us for the duration and I truly think that’s all he ever needed.

He So Loved the Snow

Fresh out of Burrowing

He Hated Thunderstorms

He loved the snow and I’ll treasure the memories of the legendary Charlton snow storms that we shared together. I found a little bit of my inner child as we cavorted in the snow together. An accomplished beggar Buddy completely lost his mind whenever food was around. He has a firm spot in family history for his legendary theft of both drum sticks from a whole chicken my wife left on top of the stove as well as his steak tug of war with Wingman. Despite Buddy’s very typical Labrador rambunctiousness he had a way of making human friends almost at will. His death has hit his Panamanian family very hard as any who’ve visited us during his time always ask how their friend Biddy is doing. His two best friends though were my Favorite Son with their pell-mell chases around the old Charlton house and Keene Friend who never failed to take him out for an early morning walk.

Devoured Bones

Loved Riding in the car

And Hanging his Nose in the Breeze

Always thought of himself as a Lapdog

Partners in Crime

Watching the World Series Together

Buddy was the key element in the months long separations from my wife over the past few years as she spent most of the winter in Panama caring for her parents. I spent many a night watching a movie or a ball game with Buddy’s head resting on my legs as he stretched out next to me on the couch. That’s how I’ll remember him and I’ll know I’ll find myself reaching down to pat his absent head in the coming months. If the measure of any creature’s life is the amount of love is generated in their honor then Buddy’s time on earth was a genuine treasure. I told him as he drew his last few breathes that he was finally going to catch the damned squirrels that had eluded him for so long. Good bye my friend, my heart is broken.

Sleep Well Old Friend - No One's Going to Kick You Off the Couch Again

What today’s blog was going to be:

Wife Waiting for the Truck to Show Up

It’s been a hectic last couple of days here in Panama. We spent Monday rushing around to arrange the delivery of furniture and installation of air conditioning in our condo. It’s not like US but much more informal. A family friend who’s also an electrician was scheduled to install lighting fixtures. My wife’s brother arranged for a friend of a friend who had a truck to transport the living room couch and the massive air conditioning units which had been stored in my sister in law’s house for the past few months. The furniture store was delivering the purchases she’d made and which they had been storing. Finally the construction firm recommended an installer for the air conditioning and arranged for him to be there on Tuesday.

Sister in Law on the Balcony

Sisters at First Meal in Condo

Watching Storm Blow in

Very Smelly Author

Posing

Work in Full Force

After Picture with AC and Lamps

That’s a lot of moving parts and anyone who’s ever done business in Panama knows that’s a recipe for disappointment if not disaster. Remarkably the only miss for the day was the truck being over an hour late. That telescoped everything into perfectly coordinated chaos when we arrived. The truck was supposed to rendezvous with us at a neighborhood store since street addresses aren’t as well marked here. My wife and I spent the hour+ waiting outside the store drawing interested glances from the neighborhood regulars wondering what the big gringo was doing in their hood.

Storm Posing

The truck finally arrived and their last load had obviously been a large amount of horse manure, so we had that going for us. Our delayed arrival meant we pulled up at the same time as the furniture store truck, the electrician, and the air conditioning installation team. The building caretaker couldn’t get the elevator to work so we had to carry everything up three flights of stairs in Panama’s omnipresent heat and humidity. The two guys from the truck were struggling with the couch and I ended up playing a much bigger role than I or my back planned on. By the time we got everything up in the condo I was thoroughly soaked and at muscle failure. I was in better shape than one of the rotund Panamanian movers who looked like he needed to head to the emergency room.

Looking into Future

Guest Bedroom - Ready for Granddaughter Climb

Talking with Architect

Once the dust settled and the technicians got to work we set up on the balcony to stay out of their way and to eat our first ever meal in the condo. Our plan had been to spend the day on the beach while the work was being done inside. The Panamanian rainy season had other ideas though. Shortly after lunch an impressive monsoon blew in to consume the rest of the day. It went quickly as my wife and her sister are a lively pair and the conversation never lagged. This marked the second time this week I spent a day at my favorite beach in the world and didn’t get a chance to swim. I hope to rectify that later today.

Storm Blowing In

Back at my Mother in :Law's House

I had to drive back through the same monsoon and crossed a couple streams that decided to use the same roadway we were. A very full day but seeing furniture in the condo as well as the air conditioning working made it seem so much more real than before. I sat out on the balcony imagining my kids and grandchildren (one can hope) rushing around the complex in future years. That balcony time has me seriously reconsidering my retirement timeline, cutting some significant years off how long I plan to continue working. My only wish was a certain black lab at my side jumping into the waves.