Brinkley: The Epilogue...

Brinkley did not die young. He is more alive than ever. The day we took Brinkley to put him down we were somber and bereft. We walked into the vet with tears in our eyes. The workers shared our tears. We sat in the room bracing ourselves for the worst outcome that had seemed to become our reality.

As a last shot at a miracle, my mom asked the veterinarian to run a final blood test to see if Brinkley's kidney levels have gone down. She came back with life changing news...his levels had gone down, not very much, but they had gone down. We left the vet with tears of joy. There was no guarantee he would continue to improve, but hope had once again become part of our vocabulary.

Now, over a month later, he is vibrant and healthy. He goes in for a blood test next week as a follow up. His last test his levels were one number away from normal. We're not even worried about this check. He's going to be fine. He has put on weight, plays and harasses Kootchi, eats his kibble at a rapid rate, and destroys anything he can get his teeth on.

One of the greatest things happened a few weeks ago...we took Brinkley camping, something we thought we would never get to do. And, he has gone swimming twice! A few days ago it was pretty hot so Elizabeth and I decided to buy Brinkley a kiddie pool to play in. He can't get enough of water and the pool was no different. He spun around and around attacking the water and trying to eat the characters printed on the hard plastic. He couldn't get enough of it. Kootchi and Russell didn't share his enthusiasm. No surprise there.

My family is blessed to have Brinkley in their lives. Having him still with us is indeed a miracle.