Prayers for Star Trek

Star Trek is what my grandfather called his dog. He is a long haired Chihuahua mix. Grandpa had Alzheimer's disease, so the dog started out as Bowser when we gave it to him, but then Grandpa noticed that the dog had one white paw, so he changed the name to White Foot, but later he forgot the "White" part and just remembered the "Foot" part, so he changed it to Star Foot. Later, he forgot the "Foot" part and just remembered the "Star" part. Grandpa had been a long time fan of the Star Trek tv series, so he started calling the dog Star Trek, and that was what finally stuck.

Star Trek was a wonderful companion to my grandpa, especially when the Alzheimer's became really bad. Star Trek was always at his side.

It's been 2 years since Grandpa died, and my mom has continued to love and care for Star Trek. She has a fenced in yard, but he is an escape artist. She got him neutered so he would not run after all the females in heat, but it didn't stop him from climbing the fence. Today, Mom said he got hit by a car. He was not killed, but Mom does not have the money to take him to the vet. I don't know how dire the situation is. I hope he does not have internal bleeding. Mom said something about him having a hole in his hind quarters that she poured some peroxide on. She said he walked around and wagged his tail, but she has not been able to look at the under side of his leg to see how bad the damage is.

Our cat, Thomas, was hit by a car a couple of years ago and his hip was broken, and after a 200 dollar vet bill, we were told they could not do anything for him. Fortunately it healed on its own. I took Mom some of Graham's cough medicine to give to Star Trek. It has codiene in it, so it should ease any pain he is in and help him to sleep. The hardest part with Thomas was keeping him still. Mom did not want us to go in the house because she was afraid that Star Trek would get
excited when he saw us and try to get up.

So anyway, I will be praying extra hard for Star Trek to recover from this. He still has a lot of life left in him, and he is very loved. I know it would really devastate my mother if he were to die. He used to go jogging with her like her body guard, and I know she plans to start jogging again. Oh, I am very, very sad. Poor Star Trek. I hate the idea of animals in pain. If anybody out there is reading this, please say a little prayer for Star Trek too. Thank you.

Here is a poem I wrote about Grandpa when he lost his second wife. She was not my grandmother.

Beloved Wife

He sat on his bed,
knuckles like concord trunks
fumbled with shirt buttons,
“Where are we going?” he asked,
for the fourth or fifth time.

“To the cemetery,”
slipped past the swell of sorrow in my throat.

“Oh?” he said, “who died?”

I had to tell him again,
“It was Jessie, Grandpa.”

His mouth opened
in silent grief, eyes dipped
to hide anguished surprise,
“Is the funeral today?”

A conversation replayed
all the way there.

Blue and white painted sky,
the full moon showing through.
Lavender and yellow daisies
cover the casket.

Faces of family and friends
were all new to him.
Each condolence became
a fresh fracture
to blessed Alzheimer’s.

He sat, eyes in the past,
as Beloved Wife was eulogized.
Present slipped in
when her name was mentioned,
and a new mourning period began.

Fragile hearts struggled
to stay strong, but
when he joined the chorus
of Amazing Grace,
it broke us all to pieces.