This is a post about Claire and her recovery. Sort of.

I made a video to document Claire’s progress. As I watched it and considered sharing, all kinds of emotions started to bubble up. The sorrow, the grief, the unfairness but also a fierce sense of protectiveness — as if people would not understand and respect they were looking at vulnerability.

I looked through photos, trying to find some that capture who and what Claire really is…

…because suddenly it felt important to say, “No — that is not the Real Claire.”

And yet, it is real Claire.

Coat shaved and blown. Still recovering from months of pregnancy, puppies, blown CCLs, a c-section, no appetite, and two TPLOs. That has been reality for Claire and so what is in the video IS Real Claire.

But she is so much more than her vulnerability.

My dad is in the hospital again. He is 83 and like Claire, it is easy for others to see him as his vulnerabilities. But my dad boxed with George Foreman. He is kind of a Bad Ass.

A member of our Berner Community is in hospice with a terrible disease process that has robbed her of movement and left her helpless to do the most basic of things — but that vulnerability does not define her. She is smart and fierce and wonderful.

I guess the challenge for me is to allow others to bear witness to vulnerability, and because I recognize that is indeed a challenge, I also know that I need to work on trusting others to understand and respect that those I love are so much more than what they cannot do and be right now — or maybe ever again.

And with that, here is a video that — strangely — reflects both vulnerability and trust…