EULOGY

http://www.thegafferchronicles.blogspot.com/  Today I am referring my friends to a friend of mine's blog.
You see The Gaffer and I share a lot of time together, but we do not usually speak with one tongue.  Today, however, is one of those days.

I have spoken of this remarkable young man before.  He came to live in this Boardinghouse from a terrible abuse situation.  Three legs broken and thrown away.  A rescue group "Pasado's Safe Haven" in Sultan WA.  called us and said that they had another dog that would be a great service dog. (The Gaffer and I had just 'Christmas eve' lost our other service dog - Gypsy Rose.)  So, Jean Luc (Yes, of the Picard family) came to stay.

He travelled the states with me, riding in style in the cabin as he was a service dog.  He worked with Police, fire, rescue, elders and just plain folks in the capacity of Grief relief.  He was a fighter, a lover (at age 21 and having had 'the operation' LONG ago) tried to mate with one of the other boarders here.  We shouldn't laugh at someone else's expense, but you see one of his legs never healed - the back one so for him to try to woo someone was really funny, especially as the she here is blind and was ready to rip him a new one but couldn't find him.

For nine years, he never left my side.  Now, I have, years ago, lost a  human child - to murder - and this was nothing like that, but still - our four legged (or three legged) friends get under our skin and reside in our hearts, give us joy, give us grief, but never, ever betray us or want anything else but love, friendship and caring from us.

I do a lot of grief work - Critical Incident Stress stuff for first responders - things that make them laugh, cry, yell and scream at me and at themselves, but when it comes to my own grief, I look to memories and times of joy and laughter - most of all laughter.  We lit a candle for him, rang the temple bell, shared a glass of Aquavit - Whooo - and told him that we would meet him (and the others) across that Rainbow Bridge some day - so watch out.

                                         Jean Luc
                                         1990 - 2012
                                         In order to really enjoy a dog,
                                         One doesn't merely train him to be semi-human.
                                         The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility
                                         Of becoming partly a dog.

SCIOLISM

It appears I am doomed to be surrounded by people who have no knowledge.  Not that I have a lot, but I know when I am being bamboozled.  As I have stated before, there are an increasing number of us who either are reaching or have reached our "Sell-By" date.  This appears to wave the green flag in the face of anyone under 30.  That means that they (the whippersnappers) believe that they can pass anything off on us, the experienced.

Went to the local witchdoctor the other day with the Gaffer.  Now I go along for truth, accuracy, comic relief.  He goes along because, I made the appointment, dragged him out and forced him to go.  The results are usually all the same:  "You are extremely healthy for someone of your age". (Did find out he was allergic to hampsters)  YEAH, HAMPSTERS - aren't going have none of those in this boardinghouse.

Anyway, the Gaffer and I are both "retired" paramedics.  Broke our eyeteeth on the streets of Washington, D.C.  Have a few tales we can share with ambulancedriver over a few cold ones...but enough of that...a little background...the Gaffer was one of the first nationally registered paramedics in the nation (Sell-by date, remember) and he taught Trauma medicine at Georgetown University, so it is really hard to put one over one him, although I try every day.  So when the Witchdoctor comes in and looks at me, who is just sitting there waiting for the fun to begin, and speaks to me as if the Gaffer was not there - "We will need him to take his shirt off because we are going to take an xray"...I can hardly hold back the snorts and giggles, when the Gaffer speaks up and says:  "AP and Lateral, right?"  Suddenly, the Medico goes all pale and begins to backtrack.  It only gets better from there.  The Gaffer is finishing the Medico's sentences and lets him know that the Gaffer has had his body longer than the Medico has been alive and would he (the Medico) like to know about autopsy procedures on someone this healthy?

It is about this time that the Medico realizes that s/he has become an ultracrepidarian...

Le Conteur