Tazo

The Duke of Tazmania (aka Taz, Tazo, Tazman, Tazalicious) has been diagnosed with lymphoma. He had a tumor (the size of a golf ball) removed from his throat on Friday, November 13th and has been recovering in the comfort of our home at IOP. The pathologist has been very clear that Taz will not survive this cancer. He has had a pretty good 15 1/2 years. At least, that's what everyone says. If you asked him, he may waffle a bit on whether the last 5 years were as joyous as the first 10 (I think the kids may be to blame there). But, somehow I am still filled with grief.

I can't help thinking that there is a lesson in all of this. I can use this to teach my children something about the cycle of life - that in order to have life, you must have death. But, how do you use something so raw to teach a lesson? How much do you let your children in on the reality of death when your parental instinct is to protect them to the end?