We learned that Senator Edward Kennedy was diagnosed with a malignant glioma in the left parietal lobe, a region of the brain that helps govern sensation, movement and language. This was the same diagnosis given to my father (also named Edward) who passed away over fifty years ago. Unfortunately, there has been little advancement in the treatment of this type of cancer since then.
Also yesterday, our dog Missy was diagnosed with a massive malignant tumor. It was inoperable, and whatever time she had left, she would be in agonizing pain and unable to walk again. We were forced to make the heart wrenching decision to put her to sleep.
Last week I had a dream, in which I drove Missy to the beach. We parked on a precipice overlooking the ocean. In the dream I was well aware of Missy's condition (she could not walk on her rear legs), yet to my surprise, when I opened the passenger door, Missy leapt out, ran to the edge, and then jumped over the side. When I reached the ledge, I was even more surprised to see that Missy not only survived the fall (about 20-30 feet), but was racing away down the shore.
When I was able to finally climb down to the beach, Missy was no where in sight. When I awoke, I shared the dream with my wife. Neither of us knew the significance of it, until yesterday. Missy is finally free!
Thanks so much everyone, for your words of comfort. If there's one thing we can learn from our four-legged loved ones, is that true love is unconditional.