Life After Bristol

This time a year ago, I was in Columbus, Ohio receiving my second guide dog. I was still reeling from the sudden death of Bristol from cancer. But as I quickly had to realize, life had to go on.

Even in the midst of grief, I was happy to have a new guide dog. Last summer, I wasn’t even sure if I would have a dog in time to start school again. I had a lot of feelings of hopelessness last summer as I waited for news about a new dog. My friend Jill insisted that I would know that I had a dog by her birthday which is on August twelfth. She was more than right.

I not only had a dog by her birthday, but I was flying home with him to begin our lives together. My guide dog’s name is Diesel. He is an energetic black Labrador Retriever. Life with Diesel is certainly been interesting so far.

It has been a year since I last posted to my blog. A lot has happened since then. I will be sharing with you all that has happened since the loss of Bristol. I still miss him. The pain is still very much at the surface, but I also have a lot of things that bring me happiness.

In his final days, Bristol gave me a gift. It was through his illness that I gained an incredible friend. Jill and I knew each other before his cancer diagnosis, but it was as I struggled to cope with the diagnosis and the inevitable loss of Bristol that Jill became more than a friend to me. Jill was with me through all of last summer and is still one of my closest friends. She is more than a friend to me. She is like a second mother to me. I have a connection with Jill that I do not have with anyone else. She will be mentioned frequently as I recount all of the events that have occurred in the last year.