Little Reminders That Your Priorities Are in Order

Maybe next time, Mr. Kravitz.

Oct 21, 2024

Last weekend, my wife and I flew out to Las Vegas to see Lenny Kravitz perform live at the Park MGM. I’ve long been a Kravitz fan, but had never seen him in concert. Part of the reason is that he doesn’t do a lot of touring, at least not in the United States. So when I saw a few months ago that he’d be headlining two weeks of shows in Sin City (before taking off for South America), I jumped at the opportunity, rationalizing it as a coincidentally-timed birthday gift to myself.

The icing on the cake (no pun intended) was that some friends of ours (another couple) were already going to be in Vegas for a convention during that time, and we talked them into buying tickets as well. It would be a fun, fun night.

But… it didn’t happen.

On the morning of the concert, barely twelve hours after we’d touched down in Vegas, we received a frantic phone call from our son back in Colorado. He told us there was something very wrong with our dog, Piper.

It wasn’t much of a surprise that she would be acting off in our absence. Weeks earlier, following the removal of a couple blood-blisters from her stomach, she was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma. It’s an invasive cancer that rarely produces symptoms (she didn’t have any) before spreading to organs. That day was a very sad one for the Dalys. As I’ve written before, Piper is absolutely amazing, the best dog we’ve ever had (and frankly ever will have).

Multiple veterinarians recommended chemotherapy to extend Piper’s life (and her quality of life). Though dogs tend to handle chemo much better than humans (for a few different reasons), a common side effect, we were told, would be a couple of days of nausea following each infusion. We saw just that after her first treatment last month, but effectively managed it with medication. The schedule called for her getting her second infusion just a few days before we left, so we had prepared our kids for the possibility of having to clean up a little puke, and give her blander food, while we were gone.

But what my son reported was something more. Blood. A good amount of it, along with other graphic details I’ll spare you all from. And because hemangiosarcoma often ultimately leads to internal bleeding, typically followed by a quick death, my wife and I became a little frantic ourselves.

Is today the day? I thought to myself more than once as we placed calls to her veterinarians.

Thankfully a dog-sitting duo we use (who know our dogs quite well) were willing and able to pick up Piper (literally) and take her to the emergency room at the veterinary hospital where she’s been receiving her cancer treatments.

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As we waited in our hotel for the prognosis, my wife and I found ourselves thinking the same thing: we needed to get back home.

What surprised even me, as I’d been looking forward to the concert for months (years really), was that it wasn’t at all a difficult decision. Piper’s a beloved member of our family, a “unicorn dog” as we like to call her. The idea of us not being there with her (and with our kids for that matter) in such a situation felt out of the question. Within a couple hours we were on a plane headed back to Denver.

The good news is that Piper’s back home with us now and healing well. She didn’t have internal bleeding, but rather hematochezia, the vets believe, from her chemotherapy… the continued treatment of which we’ll have to reevaluate this week. The sweet girl is still by our side, though we don’t know how much longer that will be for.

I think life sometimes puts us through these little exercises, not necessarily to test our moral compass, but rather get us thinking about what really matters to us — about our priorities. For some people, an elderly dog being treated by veterinary professionals for a health episode wouldn’t warrant cancelling an already short vacation half-way through (as long as the logistics were worked out). And I think that would be a morally fine position — one, like I said, I’m surprised I (not so much my wife) didn’t more carefully consider.

But I suppose we ultimately took Mr. Kravitz’s advice, and “let love rule.”

Am I bummed that I missed seeing Lenny? Definitely. He’s been on my concert bucket-list for a long time, and who knows if I’ll ever get another opportunity to check that one off. But despite the money spent on airline tickets, a hotel stay, and concert tickets, it’s not a decision I regret.

What was nice is that our friends who did make it to the concert that night thoughtfully lied to us afterwards that it “sucked.” 😄

Those are good friends!

Ever miss a dream event? Tell me about it in an email or in the comment section below.

The Hullabaloo

Last week on the Daly Express podcast, I talked to economist Brian Riedl of the Manhattan Institute about the national debt, deficits, spending, inflation, Ukraine funding, and the economic proposals of the two presidential nominees. I think it’s one of the most insightful interviews I’ve ever conducted, and I’d love for you to check it out.

Here’s a preview:

You can watch the full video version on BernardGoldberg.com, or listen to the audio podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Random Thought

Catch Up on the Sean Coleman Thrillers

All of my Sean Coleman Thriller novels can be purchased through Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Books-A-Million, and wherever else books are sold.

Featured Vinyl

I caught the reunited Black Crowes on their “Shake Your Money Maker” 30th anniversary tour back in 2021. It was at Red Rocks Amphitheater, and it was a wonderful distraction at the time from the pandemic. The band sounded amazing, and I didn’t realize until just last week, when I was flipping through bins at a used record store in Fort Collins (while I was waiting for Piper’s chemo treatment), that they had recorded the entire tour. The best selections made it onto this two-LP album released last year. So… I couldn’t resist picking it up.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading today’s Daly Grind.

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Take care. And I’ll talk to you soon!