"Cassie Screwed Us", or "Why Emmy Get to Go to Paris"

In 2011 we'd planned an extended trip, a sabbatical, a long vacation -- three months in Paris.  

 

Everything was set.  After hours and hours of research we'd rented an apartment.  Used Google Street View to walk the neighborhood a dozen times.  Booked airline tickets for ourselves, and for our dog Cassie.  We even had tickets to the Jimmy Buffett fall concert...in Paris!

 

Then Cassie screwed us out of our trip.  Or, as Maxine is prone to put it, she sort of screwed herself too.  Cassie got a brain tumor...  So, rather than three months in Paris, we spent six months nursing our dog through seizures, incontinence, and eventually watched her die -- the day before she was supposed to get on a plane to France...

 

We mourned, as everyone who loses a pet does.  Eventually we made the decision to adopt a new dog.  And we did.  Emmy!