Why Telling Someone Else “YOU'RE making me feel bad” is a Big Fat Lie

Last year I hired a young woman to take care of Serenity while I was out of town. Serenity, the first dog I’ve ever owned, had barely left my side since I’d gotten her. We were both in training: Serenity as a service dog and me as a newly minted dog owner and one-eyed survivor of ocular melanoma.

I explained to the sitter before I hired her that I didn’t want Serenity to be left alone. Either she would need to sleep at our place or Serenity would have to stay with her. If not, I said, I’d make other arrangements.

The sitter, let’s call her Sage, had just moved into an in-law cottage across town. She wasn’t sure if it was okay to have the dog at her new place.

She called me back to tell me the landlady said no problem.

Game on.

Tropical cyclone Helene

While I was gone a tropical cyclone hit southern South Carolina.

Trees toppled, power lines went down, and flash flooding drenched our town.

You probably remember when this happened.

Hurricane Helene was so severe that it made international news.

The evening before the hurricane landed, more than 4,000 miles away, without knowing that a storm was coming, I felt a prescient stab of worry about my dog.

That night I had turbulent dreams.

The next day I heard about the hurricane on the news and I texted Sage to make sure she and Serenity were both okay.

So many trees are down, Sage texted back. I don’t think I can get to your house to let her out.

Let her out? My heart started pounding against my chest. Let her out of where?