Not dead yet

Cricket is still with me. She seems to be in some sort of remission. This photo of us was taken by my friend John when we went to visit on Thursday (three days ago). She doesn't look like a dog with one foot in the grave, does she? Compare that to how she looked in her "hospice" bed (in my living room) on July 1, the day she stopped eating and went four days without food. After telling all my friends that my dog was in the process of dying, now I'm wondering whether they'll believe me next time when it's really happening.

I came across a quote in Richard John Neuhaus's As I Lay Dying of a poem called "Adjusting to the Light" in which Miller Williams "reflect[s] on the embarrassment of friends and neighbors when Lazarus returns from the dead. He was gone only four days, but already it is not easy to fit him back into things."

Lazarus, listen, we have things to tell you.
We killed the sheep you meant to take to market.
We couldn't keep the old dog, either.
He minded you. The rest of us he barked at.
Rebecca, who cried two days, has given her hand
to the sandalmaker's son. Please understnad
we didn't know that Jesus could do this.

We're glad you're back. But give us time to think.
Imagine our surprise... We want to say
we're sorry for all that. And one thing more.
We threw away the lyre. But listen, we'll pay
whatever the sheep was worth. The dog, too.
And put your room the way it was before.