on monday we said goodbye to who i suspect will forever remain the most unique, magical creature we will ever have the pleasure of sharing our life with. flanagan was strong and full of life to the end but in the last month he was met with a cascade of orthopedic issues that were becoming increasingly hard for him to overcome and we believed it was time to let him move on.
i’ve written much about flanagan and his “special” needs, although i’d prefer to refer to them as his awesome needs, and you can read his posts here. he was deaf and what we referred to as autistic and he presented us with the challenge of working on the puzzle that was him and finding the best way to the most comfortable life for him. by the “puzzle” i mean there was a learning curve to his sensory issues; we had to first figure out what exactly was “bothering” him and then find an alternate route or solution as things popped up. this was never a negative and i want to make sure it isn’t perceived as such. i was more than happy to take on the challenge and i was rewarded with getting to love one of the most amazing creatures to walk this earth. he felt familiar to me, like if i could figure him out i would be figuring out myself in some way. somehow he was sweet and gentle in a boisterous way (figure that one out), he was complex, he was full of life and never had a bad day, and he was gorgeous in every way possible and i simply adored him.
as i’ve discussed previously, something changed after pinky’s amputation surgery and he allowed us to love him in a much different way. for the first time there was no time limit on touching, hugging or kissing and, holy shitake mushrooms did dave and i take advantage of that. he was met with 11 years of pent-up affection and he seemed to take it all in. he allowed things never before possible like weekly laser treatments and chiropractic adjustments with no reaction whatsoever. for all this i find myself oddly thankful for his cancer. i would gladly give up a few years with him to have him move on having allowed himself to be loved in a much more tangible way than ever before possible. life will not be the same without him and we are devastated but incredibly grateful for the gift he was in our life.
pinky has always been inspiring to me - he just was who he was...he made no apologies and never tried to be anything else. that might seem silly or make no sense but i trust if you spent any time with him you’d have seen it too. sail on my sweet pinky…
