The sadness and reality of life

I seem to have neglected my blog a little over the last few weeks, part of the reason is the post below, although I started writing it a while back, I just couldnt finish it. The events below took place on 28th January.

This post has very little if anything to do with crochet, instead it is about number 2 son, Harley and his beloved pony Jojo. I need first to give you a little background about Harley. Born 8 weeks early, as he grew several issues with his behaviour and learning abilities became apparant and he was disagnosed with ADHD. He is now 19 and although his behaviour is becoming better, he is still prone to outbursts of anger and an inability to comprehend what is being said to him.

His companion and saviour for the past 11ish years, has been Jojo a rather old and rickety pony, with the stubborness of a bull elephant, but a complete and utter lifeline to Harley, at his most down times, she has been the one he has turned to, poured his heart out too and also listened to, she has taught him so much about his own strengths and even her last act in life, she has left him a lesson to learn.

On the evening of 28th January, Harley received a phone call from one of the staff at the local animal shelter, where he volunteers his time and Jojo had been over wintering at, to say that she had gone down and was unable to get back up, I should at this point, point out that Jojo is estimated to be around the 36 mark, my husband, George, took Harley straight there, but phoned me not long after they had arrived to say that Jojo appeared to be dying, the vet was on the way and he would let me know what was happening. I phoned a little while later to see what was happening and George said they were still waiting for the vet, but Jojo was peaceful and Harley was cuddling her. Harley spoke to me at that time and told me that he had decided to ask the vet to put Jojo down to prevent any chance of her suffering, unless the vet thought that it was treatable. The vet arrived in due course and sadly confirmed that Jojo was indeed dying, her heart was giving up and he agreed with Harley that the kindest thing to do would be to put her to sleep.

Inevitably we were all devastated but thankful that she was peaceful and not suffering, she died in Harley's arms.  There followed many days of tears, hugs and also a small amount of uncertainty on Harley's part, he questioned his decision to have her put to sleep, but with careful guidance and the support of many of our friends, he realised that he had made the right decision.

He now has a beautiful tattoo done by George, in memory of his beloved Jojo and also has a small crochet pony, which sits by his bed.

A much younger Harley with Jojo

Harley learnt that sometimes the hardest and saddest decisions have to be made, for the good of others, in this case, to let his pony go. She left him with many happy memories and she will always be his best friend.

Love and blessings
Laura