PENNY WILL PULL THROUGH

A beloved family pet provides hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel by Benjamin Rempel, Toronto

- Benjamin Rempel

Penny enjoying daily walks with the family as she heals.

My terrier, Penny, went in for ligament surgery on March 9th— four days before our country was turned on its head. She spotted a squirrel stuttering along the fence in our backyard and launched her athletic frame off the back porch. She cleared the four wooden steps but landed awkwardly, coming up lame.

We monitored her that night and most of the next day. She was favouring her leg, this much was expected. But it was her muted personality which most concerned my wife. “You need to take her to the vet,” she said. She was resolute in her instruction. My “let’s-wait-and-see” tactic had been overruled.

We heard the whispers of a novel virus originating in China, but it was “way over there—nowhere close to here.” Everyone was laughing at the Corona beer memes circling the Internet, so it couldn’t be that big a deal, right? Real pandemics aren’t supposed to be funny. Besides, a relative told me there was nothing to worry about. And she went to college for dramatic arts, so she’s pretty much a medical doctor.

But the week beginning March 12th, everything we thought we knew about infectious diseases changed. It was my dad’s eyes that gave it away. He looked up from his phone as we waited for our meals from the restaurant kitchen. “The NBA just cancelled their games.” He repeated the headline again, this time slower, softer. My mind raced, trying to comprehend what this meant. And where this was headed. “But if one league closes,” I started, nervous of the answer, “won’t the others follow?”