Autobiography: {Prologue - Young Dreams Never Come True}

"Young dreams never come true", the lanky teenager said in a tone that almost sounded like she was mocking her pudgy younger sister who just timidly confessed she wanted to be a vet when she grew up.

Those 5 words didn't make sense to her at that time. All she knew was that she had watched her elder sister feed the stray black cat at school during recess time, a stray that her sister named Astreal after the black cat in "Smurfs". She witnessed how her elder sister picked a stray puppy up from school, brought it home in a cardboard box, only to get a earful from their concerned father and auntie because they weren't sure if the puppy was "gam chek" (had worms in its tummy). She was also fascinated by all of her elder sister's prized books on animals, especially a hardcover black book named "Dogs" that had a picture of Lassie on its cover and talked about all the wonderful dog breeds of the world. She envied how her elder sister was always so at ease with their cousins' dogs and the dogs of strangers she met on the street - playing, petting, laughing and having the time of her life.

Most of all, she knew her elder sister's ambition was to be a vet who helps animals, and she too, wanted to be kind and compassionate to all God's creatures, just like the jie jie she looked up to.

She didn't know why her elder sister said those words and what those words really mean, but she could sense the severity in the tone her elder sister used. The words left a sourish feeling inside her but strange enough, it also gave her a sense of empowerment and a sense of determination that she would some day, prove her elder sister wrong.

And who would have known, these words didn't just ring in her ears that very day; it resonated in the depths of her heart for the next 20 years....

Big T & Music

So Big T has started formal music education. Yay!

And the Tiger Mum in me has reared its ugly, striped head. Boo!

Anyway, i thought it'll be interesting to chronologise my experience so i can see how well he's progressing (or declining). I need more patience for sure, and i need to stop saying "If i can start piano at 4 years old, take my first theory exam at 6, blahblahblah, then Big T should be able to do it too!"...

More on this later.

Packing up after Staccato!

A Dog's Career

One random afternoon, over wanton mee and teh peng with the Guru, i suddenly thought of all my years doing agility with Chester and how his retirement has always been looming at the back of my mind. Truth be told, i was very envious of all my other Smartdoggy classmates with much younger dogs, knowing that their dogsports journey had just begun while sad to say, mine will come to an end soon.

Lucas offered me a practical solution of getting another dog so my my agility career doesn't have to end as Chester ages but i refused because i've always been a one-dog person. Moreover, agility has always been the special something between Chester and I, him being my very very first agility dog and us beating the odds to achieve little victories along the way. I cannot, and i repeat, CANNOT as much as i try to, imagine myself training and trialling with another dog! Yes, i am that rigid.

I still remember the word Lucas used to describe me when i vocalised these thoughts to him. He said i was a "faithful" owner - which was highly amusing because you only hear people talk about faithful dogs and you almost never hear anyone saying that an owner is faithful to his dog!

Knowing i would probably never consider getting a 2nd dog while Chester is still around, and knowing how shattered i would be when i finally have to say "this is it" at the very end of my agility journey, Lucas said something to me which i will always remember:

"When Chester is no longer fit to do agility anymore, why not consider doing obedience with him? If he's older and mellower, why not let him become a therapy dog? If he's not keen or if his health is failing, just play with him once in awhile, just sit around with him and chill out...."

And the words that hit me the most were, "A dog's career will never come to to an end, unless you stop loving him and stop doing things with him, you know?"

So here am i, sitting on the couch, anxiously waiting for Dr. Choi to let me know if Chester's GHP and urinalysis is clear. The physical exam this morning was uneventful, no heart murmur or other significant findings, except for his yucky teeth which i will fix soon! It is my responsibility to make sure everything's good before i put him through anymore training and trialling.

The optimistic person in me hopes that Chester and I still have a few more good years on the field before i hang up my Salomon for good, but i know that eventually, the day will come when my agility journey with Chester will come to a permanent end.

And till then, when that day comes, I will think back and remember the wise words the Guru said on that random afternoon over wanton mee and teh peng.

And i will walk away knowing that as long as i have my faithful dog by my side, it's never the end.

Genesis

After opening and closing, opening and closing, opening and closing numerous blogs over the past years, i've decided to start blogging again. Only this time, i won't be blogging so much about my daily life (well, i will if there's anything blogworthy), but will be using this space to jot down anedotes and moments in my life that i want to remember for a long time to come.

I've also always wanted to write a book about how i came to want to become a vet and how i eventually became one. Did you know i had a phobia of dogs as a kid? Bet you didn't know, so that will be a good story to tell. I figured out the writing-a-book thing will probably be another one of my wild dreams (just like being a vet was, when i was 8), so if that never ever materialises, at least this blog can serve the same purpose.

I also want to share my stories as a wife, a mother, an animal lover, a foodie, a dogsports enthusiast and everything i am. Hopefully, my stories can bring laughter, tears, amusement or even inspiration into someone's otherwise mundane existence...

A grumpy Alpaca at the Perth Royal Show, Sept 2010

 :)