If you only come to this website to read about classic arcade restorations, you’ll want to skip this post. I’m going to do something that is cliche of every personal website / blog and write a bit about my dog, Lady. We picked up Lady about 9 years ago from the local animal shelter. I knew immediately that she was the dog for us. As we walked past the cages, all of the other dogs would bark, jump up on the cage and display outward signs that they were too hyper to have around small children. Not Lady, she just sat there and looked up at us with her big brown eyes as to say “I’m the dog for you”. We picked her up the next day and took here home.

Lady became an immediate part of our family. Having had dogs for most of my life, I can honestly say that Lady was without a doubt the best behaved dog that I’ve ever had. She did have a bit of an ornery streak and was rather found of chasing other animals. She was fearless, often chasing rabbits, squirrels, even full grown deer. Fortunately, she never caught anything but it wasn’t from lack of effort. We also discovered that Lady was a far better “weather forecaster” than any news service. Lady was absolutely horrified of thunderstorms. We knew, at least 3 hours in advance when a storm was headed our way. Lady would begin panting, and as the storm grew closer would literally begin to shake, teeth chattering and all.

About a year ago, Lady started to gain weight at an abnormal rate. We took her to the vet and discovered that she had a thyroid problem. While there was treatment available for that condition her health, unfortunately, continued to deteriorate. About 6 months ago, she started having vision problems, which eventually led to blindness. She knew her way around the house well enough that the vision problems weren’t a real issue. About 3 months ago, Lady started to exhibit strange behavior. Her favorite thing was eating toilet paper straight off the roll. She was no longer able to get around the house and began walking in walls and furniture that she, despite her failing vision, was normally able to maneuver around.

Our once healthy dog, chasing animals in the backyard, now had to be carried down the 5 steps from our deck to the back yard. My wife or I had to come home daily during our lunch breaks to check on her. On Saturday, Lady was standing at the top of of the stairs in our house, stairs she had navigated successfully many times even in her deteriorating condition. On this occassion, she was apparently confused about her location and fell down about 6 steps, seriously injuring her paw. Yesterday, we took Lady to the vet and had to make the difficult decision to have her put down. We knew that going in, but it’s still a difficult decision to make. I can honestly say that for the first time in months, she finally looked peaceful.

So why write about this on my “classic arcade” blog? I have no idea. Perhaps it makes me feel just a bit better. I know my daughter reads this blog on a routine basis even though she knows the progress I’m making on each game. She thinks it’s “cool” that dad has a website. Maybe she can come back to this post in the future…if nothing else for the memory.