Slow Down

Cooper managed to get around fairly well, but her hips started giving out. It was slow going either from the sofa, or even just from the floor. Her morning walks with Mike went were down to just around the block. It still took 25 minutes-- in part, we thought, from the arthritis and also because she couldn't see what was ahead of her. She still looked forward to these walks but she didn't have the stamina to go the distance. At night, I finally had to put a gate up to keep her from going up the stairs: she fell on them several times, and I held my breath every morning as I listened to see if she would make safely. This was a punishment to her to be restricted from being with the rest of the family at night. She sneeked up a couple of times when I wasn't watching.