A Bittersweet January: Ali and Prague

Ali Gerney

Using high pitched voices she is also known as: 

Ali-wally, Mams, Mammals, Smammals, and Mammy

You may know sent our baby to doggie heaven Friday, January 11^th.  Ali has had a tough time lately.  Truth be known, she wasn’t right since Dempsey died.  You might think it’s crazy to think dogs can be depressed but they can.  She had been in and out of the vet for the past 6 months with various problems.  After a recent series of ultrasounds, EKGs, X-rays, and one endoscopy—We found she had heart failure on the left side, aortic stenosis, and a tumor in her spleen.  She also suffered from an elongated palette making it difficult to breathe. (We did have surgery to correct this)  Last but unfortunately not least…  She had been diagnosed with progressed laryngeal paralysis.  It’s a nerve disease that controls the larynx and it eventually shuts it down causing a death by suffocation.  This is more commonly a Labrador /golden retriever disease so it was a sad surprise.  We really believed she had more time but in one week she began tripping and it was clear her hind legs were weakening fast.  Her face was also very droopy.  Although LP does cause these things, I believe it was moving too fast indicating there was another underlying neurological disorder which is common with LP.   We made the very difficult decision to send her to heaven before the disease progressed any further.  All the signs were there and her breathing was worsening fast.  There is a corrective surgery for this condition and our specialist of course wanted to perform.  After much reading and consulting with our regular vet, we decided against the surgery.  It is not a perfect surgery  (unilateral tie back) with several potential issues.  That coupled with her other health issues helped make our decision.  Our vet told me under the same circumstances she would not put her own dog through the surgery and encouraged us to “Let her go peacefully.” 

She was eating well and still even wanted to play sometimes which for us, just made it harder.    The problem with laryngeal paralysis is the disease is unpredictable.  You sit around with fear that she will have a respiratory crisis and die in front of you.  There have been many sleepless nights over the last month…  just listening to her breathing struggles and worrying if “tonight is the night”.   She couldn’t be walked or played hard with out of fear she would have a crisis.  It’s no way for any of us to live.  So in many ways, that Friday was a great relief.  She lived a long (for a boxer) and great life.

Ali joined our new family at the beginning of our marriage.  She was stubborn and a bit of a spaz but she matured into an amazingly obedient and sweet dog.  As a puppy she once destroyed an entire chaise lounge and she went through her share of shoes too.  As an adult, she wouldn’t touch anything that wasn’t hers—including food.   She wasn’t much interested in toys until Dempsey came along and it was funny to watch an adult dog and her newfound love for toys.   It was so fun to finally see her play with toys that we would clap when she would go after a toy or bring us a ball and prance around with it so it became a fun game to get us clapping and cheering for her.  This became a ritual up to the end. 

We don’t know how to live without dogs in the house.  It’s quiet and I find myself calling to her or looking for her when I have leftover chicken.   I know this will pass. 

The Last 9 Years

It's hard to believe she was that tiny
Born December 7, 2003
Pearl Harbor Baby

Baby Ali with our sweet Ruckus boy

Spooning!

After we lost Ruckus, along came this Canadian chunky monkey who would make himself comfortable wherever and whenever!
Dempsey born November 20, 2006

Ali quickly realized she was only safe on the couch or bed.  Well, for a few months at least.

At our house in Pensacola.  Dempsey loved the pool!

He would sit here all day if you let him.

Our drive when we moved from Florida to Texas

We had lots of friends come visit!  Meet Daisy Kate.

 Copper was here for Christmas one year
If you're wondering, he's looking at the cheese I dropped.  The same cheese I used to get them to sit still for a picture.

We loved to dress up for Halloween.  Ok, not really but we did love greeting everyone at the door!

We loved Santa

This year, Mike was deployed so we spent Christmas alone but,  I took my two best friends to see Santa

We loved babies :)

We loved snow

We even loved charity fundraising events for dogs less fortunate than us: The Furball

We loved pool parties with friends. 

We loved seeing our Dad walk through that door for the first time in six months

We loved looking out the window

We just loved being together.

And, now we are again.

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

Prague is less than 5 hour drive from our house.  It’s still sometimes hard to believe these places are so close!  The drive there was easy-All autobahn.  Of course, in town Prague is typical scary Europe driving but it was short lived.

January is Prague’s so called “off season” but you wouldn’t have known it by all the people.  It wasn’t obnoxious though.  When I think “off season”, I think deserted.  Not the case at all!  As we were walking through all of the people I asked Mike could he imagine how crazy it was in spring and summer?  We really dislike crowded places and waiting.  It was pretty cold but it was easily combatted with dressing appropriately and making lots of stops in shops, cafes, and bars.  Easy enough.  We would do that anyway!

The Black Angels bar=awesome
Terrible picture but, crystal chandeliers, 20's prohibition era music played, very professional bartenders that will entertain you with their drink making abilities.
Located inside, downstairs of the U-Prince hotel (same place with the fantastic rooftop bar)

View from the Prague Castle

Old Glory flying over Prague

the Monastic Brewery

Three home of their home brews

Rooftop bar at the U-Prince hotel
Me and my pina colada

Love this picture of you!

"Bars and Books"
007 bar that professionally serves the classic James Bond drinks

Mike's pipe and Vesper martini

 Off-season also means hotel rates are rock bottom so we were able to stay in an amazing hotel, the Buddha Bar Hotel.  It was still a splurge but for a romantic city like Prague, it was worth it!  There were so many buttons and remote controls for everything from the wrap around curtains to ambient lighting.  The staff were fantastic and there was an on site restaurant, bar, and breakfast/lunch café.  We visited them all.

Unlike Rome, we didn’t have a laundry list of things to see in Prague.  We leisurely saw the major things and piddled around the rest of the time.  We did take one tour. I am becoming a big fan of these “tasting” tours.  Our hosts were a cute engaged couple-Both clearly educated and just a laid back and fun.  They expertly escorted out of the tourists areas so we were able to try true Czech specialties.  I learn more on these relaxed excursions than formal tours.  We talked CR politics, their daily lives, and times during Communism and when it ended.  It is always interesting to hear local perspective.  I seriously feel smarter now.  :D  I know some people might see these tours and think they are pricey and that they could just go to a guided tour for 1/10^th of the price and yes, you can but I can guarantee you will get more out of these semi private adventures.  And the food…  So much food!  We weren’t forced to guess at the menu.  They ordered everything and made it very easy for us.   

A few things we learned with Jan and Suzi that I found particular interesting...

1.     We passed a ballroom and they explained Czech kids take ballroom dancing lessons in school.  It’s an important tradition and they show off their skills at their prom where anyone, in school or out, can attend.  Of course, Mike instantly wondered aloud “So, 40 year old single men can go?”  Jan said before he began doing these tours he never had a second thought about it but evidently it is a commonly asked question by Westerners.  He replied it’s just not like that.  It’s very traditional and common for older adults to attend just for the dancing.  Interesting how we associate things these days isn’t it?

2.      They also shared their parents’ personal experiences with Communism and how different their lives are from their parents due to the end of that period.  Suzi is actually an attorney although she stopped practicing because it wasn’t what she expected.  But, she has a choice and that is what’s so fantastic.  They showed us many commercials from the Communist era where they wouldn’t advertise brands but just a general product such as apples or cheese.  If you haven’t ever seen them, Google a few.  Interesting.  They also explained during the Communist era, all jobs were pretty equal as far as pay.  A garbage man made the same as a bank executive.  When you visit the CR you will notice customer service is a bit lacking in many places.  Professional but not friendly.  This is slowly changing especially within the larger global brands coming in like Starbucks, Hooters, etc., but they explained the attitude is an overflow from the era where customer service wasn’t a priority.  Many people hated their jobs and their situations.  When McDonalds first came to Prague, people flocked there because of course McDonalds trained their own people and they were so friendly, everyone went there to eat simply because it was such a friendly place.  I found this very amusing—but, not all at the same time.

I don’t mean to ramble about Communism but sometimes I realize how very historically ignorant I am and just wanted to share!

Great trip.  Relaxed and perfect.  

I was wishing for snow in Prague. I suppose I should have been more specific because I didn't want the drive home to look like this!!  

This was not the autobahn but, the autobahn looked the same for an hour or two.  We were really ready to cross back over into Germany where they are excellent about clearing the roads.