Making the most of your loved ones

Thirteen years ago our wonderful and much loved German shepherd, Nikki, was diagnosed with heart failure and breast cancer having nearly collapsed and had been left at the vets for tests. By late afternoon, the vet broke the news to us that she was too ill to treat and there was really only one course of action to consider. I rang Mike immediately to break the news. This was a pet who was more than just a dog. She was part of the family and fundamentally responsible for Mike and I getting together in the first place thirteen years previously.

Thankfully, Mike said we should go and see her to say our farewells. We were prepared for the worst. But when we arrived at the vets and were shown through to the boarding area there was Nikki Noo, (it sounds daft now but that's what we called her). She was so excited at seeing us and I swear that if dogs could talk she was screaming ‘I’m OK! Please take me home! Please don’t put me to sleep!’. We challenged the vet and we pleaded with him for us to be able to take Nikki home. The vet, Mike Hayes, was a kind man and an extremely compassionate veterinary surgeon. He really loved animals and treated them wonderfully. He told us that medically, Nikki was extremely poorly. Mentally, she was doing well so, yes, we could take her home and see how things progressed.

Over the next month Nikki received so many cuddles and treats. Every day we made her feel special. We loved her and appreciated her and spent many a happy evening remembering the many antics she had got up to during her life. It was four weeks until her health finally gave in and we had to say good bye, but we were so grateful for the fact that we had been given that opportunity - those precious last days to make her feel really special.

Two weeks ago today, my mother-in-law was really poorly and was admitted to hospital. Our doctor warned us that it could be touch and go, particularly as she is 87 years old. As we visited her every day we could see her deteriorating and we were seriously worried about her. Thankfully, medically she was recovering and on Tuesday she came home to us and each day she has improved dramatically. We are so grateful for the excellent care she received in hospital to get her well enough to come home. We are hopeful of a significant recovery.

Over the next weeks, months, and hopefully years, I want to make sure that this very, very special and lovely lady knows how much we love her, appreciate her and respect her. She is a remarkable woman who is extremely capable, motivated, and always looks elegant – to the point that folk stop her in the street and tell her so! She never moans, never criticises, and she is a wonderful friend and mother. She is a true inspiration to us all. I am so pleased that we have the opportunity to say those nice things we think about her to her face and to make her feel really special during the last chapter of her life.