Dear Readers,

Shortly after we arrived home from Florida, Momma flew off for a week in Italy with girlfriends. I don’t begrudge her that because I know she does her best to care for me and totally deserves a break. And as her friend, Rachel, said when encouraging Momma to go on the trip, “Lina could probably use a break, too.” Momma is still trying to process that and whether to be insulted, but decided to just go with it.

The good news, dear readers, is that I got to spend an entire week with Nanny and Uncle Tom. It was delightful. They have a new home with a huge fenced in yard and I was free to run around to my heart’s content. Nanny was her usually wise, calming and caring self, feeding me and giving me meds and plenty of treats! And Tom pitched right in — he washed my eyes, brushed my fur and my teeth before bedtime, and calmed me down one night during a storm — none of Momma’s gummies needed! Here’s a sampling of the action.

Soon it was all over though and Nanny brought me home. All was going fine until Momma got sick. I could tell because she slept most of the day and walked with great care and shuffled like Tim Conway in the old Carol Burnett show. Oh, and she told me. Often. Looking for sympathy I think, which I was only too happy to give (support dog, remember?).

The problem with this was that Momma had contracted Covid. After two days of her hugging and cuddling and petting me largely out of guilt I think, it finally dawned on her to see if she could transmit it to me. (She was already taking her own precautions against my chemo excretions with the protective gloves and washing her hands a million times a day.) Not surprisingly, Google informed her that yes, a dog can contract Covid from a human. Momma was dogsmacked! She didn’t even dare Google what could happen if the dog was already compromised by taking chemo.

So now Momma, who wasn’t exactly a government rule follower back in the pandemic, is all of a sudden masking up and social distancing (thank goodness Google told her not to put a mask on me). It is all overwhelming to her though and she often can’t keep it straight if she’s protecting me from Covid or her from chemo. And how does it all work? How can she pet me if she has to stay six feet away? Should she not touch me at all? Should she wear a mask to bed? Should she double glove it to make sure she is not contaminated by chemo? Not even allow the occasional face or hand lick? Should we even be living in the same house?

Lina, just trying to keep up

WOOFDA!