RainDrops

The months since our return from being abroad have been rather challenging.

Not long after getting home, we discovered the dogs had each developed a strange lump: River on his backside and Tilly along her rib cage. Our initial trip to the vet ended with a suspected cancer diagnosis for both of them, which was devastating to hear.

Thankfully, River’s issue turned out to be an infection that we were able to resolve with a procedure and medication.

Tilly unfortunately had her cancer confirmed. It took several agonizing months (and a preliminary surgery) to get a full picture of what was going on and schedule time with a specialist. Finally in February, Tilly had the mass removed.

Our poor girl spent three weeks in house lock-down afterward so she could heal. She is nearly recovered now, and even slowly regrowing her fur. With no signs of further spread or other symptoms, we’re hopeful she’s on the mend for good…

During this same period of time, I received bad news about my work situation. Although the details are still being sorted out, it probably won’t be long before I have to leave the role I’ve held for the last twelve years.

This loss coupled with weird rumours about the border and dual citizenship made us wonder if we might need to move back to the (lower-cost-of-living) States for a while. Shane has been applying for jobs to gauge interest—a change of this scale is not necessarily what we will do, but we want to be prepared.

So yeah…it’s been a lot.

Yet despite everything, the sun still rises and sets (often beautifully).

The year continues to turn.

The world regularly presents us with happy little surprises.

The magic of skating competitions keeps us entertained.

And the kindness of people keeps showing up when we need it most (thank you, thank you, thank you).