When I published this post, Thank You, Penny. , my son, Tristan, was deeply moved by the story of Penny's love of life and the pure, innocent love she willingly shared. However, my son mentioned to me that I'd overlooked one very notable time in her life.
Penny was only about two to three months old. A little puppy who loved to go on walking adventures. One evening, we realised that something was terribly wrong with her ability to walk. She was limping very badly.
The next day, we took Penny to the vets. He did an x-ray on her rear left leg. To the utter astonishment of Tristan and I, the x-ray revealed that she had shattered bone fragments down the entire leg. It was amazing she could even walk. She must of been in an awful amount of pain. The vet explained that small dogs, such as a Jack Russell, can be prone to degenerative bone disease.
The vet cancelled his lunch and operated on her immediately. The bone fragments and the hip bone in her left back leg were removed. We were informed that muscle would replace the hip bone. We were told that after a few months, we'd hardly even realise that she had her hip bone removed. That was mostly true, but sometimes, she would have a slight limp.
The vet placed her hip bone in a small container which Tristan has kept as a reflective keepsake.
And thus, as Tristan said to me recently, "Penny was a one-hip wonder." In the above video, you can notice her slight limp.
I shall be returning soon with what I believe will be the most powerful and spiritual post I ever wrote.
Thank you. In peace, Gary.