My trusted friend Hickory, my old man golden retriever, had major surgery.  He has an incision running the length of his belly.  It makes it hard for him, in his recovery, to lie down in his favorite spot on the carpet by my desk.  Instead, he stands.They took out a tumor the size of a small watermelon, and it seems that the cancer has already spread to his liver.  I don’t know why I’m experiencing so many animal loss issues right now, but that seems to be the way of it.I asked the veterinarian how much time Hickory has left.  He shrugged, knowing that death can rarely be accurately predicted.  “Could be months . . . or weeks,” he sighed,  “Just consider every day gravy.”  Yes, isn’t that true for each one of us when we really stop and consider the precariousness of life?And so we’re doing a lot of dog snuggling, patting, and nuzzling.  Hickory is getting table scraps and the fancy biscuits.  There’s not a moment to take for granted when every day is gravy.To receive Ashley’s weekly blog via email Click Herewww.ashleydavisbush.com