It’s Time
Boo was having a bad day when I got to work. When she saw me, she limped down the hallway to my cubicle. She was wheezing as I put her on my lap.   Boo turned around several times, trying to get comfortable.  Her rear left leg looked stiff and swollen.  Finally, she put her head down, but didn’t sleep.

Daniel stuck his head into my cubicle and said, “When I first got her she was a lot of fun.  I remember those days, and I keep thinking she’s got some more left. Every now and then she has a really good day, but I know it’s time to put her down.”

“Not going to be easy,” I said.

“No, but her bad days far outweigh the good. It is time.”

I stroked Boo and thought how some relationships start out fun.  They run their course. The good times are gone, but people hold onto the memories of better days. Every now and then they enjoy the relationship again, and their hopes rise.

 A friend’s marriage ended after thirty years. He told me he spent the last fifteen hoping it would be like it was during the first five.  I heard a speaker at an AA meeting say she loved wine, but at the end drank because she had to. Relaxation and good times with girlfriends were long gone. She drank for years, thinking the good times would come back.  They didn’t, and she finally quit.

I counseled a guy who hated his job, but made a ton of money. When I saw him, money no longer mattered, but he kept thinking the next big raise would make him happy again.  He knew he needed to change jobs, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He quit therapy with a shrug, accepting misery as part of his job description.

Today I hope I’ll know if it’s time.

Burnout Training ©2018 by Ken Montrose

Burnout Training is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at: www.greenbriartraining.com https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/