I was dealing with two sick animals overnight . . . an ancient dog having a episode of anxiety and confusion, a cat having his annual grumpy feverish reaction to a vaccine. As a result I slept on the couch so that the dog wouldn't fall down the stairs in the middle of the night, and grumpy cat had the entire bed to himself.

We're getting closer and closer to the moment when I'm going to need to make the god-decision about this dog; but as soon as I think, "Now's the time," she pulls herself out of her spiral and goes back to being graciously feeble. At midnight, she stood with her head in a corner, unable to bring herself to lie down, unable to figure out what to do with her legs or her worries, and I sat on the floor with my arms around her, crying a little, wondering how the two of us were going make it through the long night. But we did. I carried her outside and let her stand in the cool grass for a while, which seemed to revive her. And then she walked back inside, on her own volition, and I pretended to watch Netflix while she figured out how to sit down on the rug beside the couch and remembered how much she enjoyed hanging out together in the evenings. And gradually she lay down and fell asleep, and gradually I did too.

We'll see what today brings. Anything could happen.