Hair Of The Dog

Meet Ernie. He's not my dog though. Ernie just showed up around here a few weeks ago and Allen took him in. He has always wanted a bloodhound and now he's got one. It seemed that someone had shut Ernie up and starved him. Whether that was entirely intentional, I'm not sure. He didn't have any sores or signs of abuse on him (other than being starved) so I wonder if his owner might have died suddenly and no one knew about Ernie or what. He is actually filled out some in this photo, due to intense feeding for about a week and a half and his claws have worn down to a normal length now since he gets out and runs around. He's very sweet but he is definitely a hound; always hungry.

So, sorry I haven't been posting much lately. I just have so much on my mind I don't know where to start sometimes. One good thing is that I think my work is actually going to hold out longer than previously thought. The Man From 12 Years continues to struggle at times with things. It's not just the issue of dealing with grief over his wife or even his brother also, as most people would think, usually after they tell him he just needs to "get over it" already. To say he has had a rough life, even from childhood, is like saying the Titanic was a big boat. His wife helped him overcome so much that to have her taken away has left him lost. Then , his brother was about the only one of his family that truly empathized with him and tried to help, and he dies 5 months later. The Man has basically starved himself for months and has now gotten physically worn down, making his recovering even harder due to the fact that his body and mind lack so many much needing nutrients to function correctly. One good thing is that he will do most anything I ask him, so I have him on a high protein drink with high potency vitamins and supplements to try to restore his functions. He will eat when he is with me but usually not much of anything if he is alone. He keeps trying though. He has an occasional bad spell where he gets really down for 2 or 3 days but I think that is normal at this point. I think if he could get his nutrition level built back up he could better deal with his grief. I have explained this to him and he seems to agree and tries hard to eat and take his supplements.
I guess most people would say that I should run screaming from such a situation but that I just can't see that. My sister says that anybody that comes to you and asks for help is just looking to use you. I don't think that is always true and he never approached me with that attitude anyway. If I turn away from him to save myself grief and he doesn't make it, then I have that to carry the rest of my life. If I try everything to help him and he still doesn't make it, I still have that hurt but know that, at least, I tried everything I could. I don't know. So many of the issues he has are so similar to things I have gone through in my own life that it really makes me wonder. I can completely empathize with him. Neither of us could ever be accused of being saints but we would both like to just have a simple life and love one another.
Sometimes it seems like I have always had to struggle so hard for anything I've ever gotten in life. College, work, this house and I wonder why, is it just my imagination? Lots of people say I'm a very strong person but it really doesn't seem so right now!
So, that's what is going on with me now. There is a lot more to it really but that is the main issue. I only hope and pray that things begin to really turn around for him soon. He has made progress in a lot of ways and tells me that I am a tremendous help to him but I wonder what else I can do. Collective good thoughts are appreciated; I think they make a difference. I'll try to post a little more. Maybe even something about the house.