Before going any further, this article is about Ginger Pooh. However, to understand Ginger Pooh, you need two naissances. The first relates to A.A. Milne, who wrote Winnie-the-Pooh and Christopher Robin a century ago. I enjoyed reading both stories.

Interestingly, I began my adult life after returning from New College of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. First, I got a job and then got an Irish Setter. Her name was Ginger, but I often extended her name to Ginger the Pooh. She helped my three children learn to walk by hanging onto her ears for support as they toddled through childhood.

In my twilight years, I got my second Irish Setter named Ginger, which I often extend to Ginger the Pooh. What is intriguing is that the origin of the name Pooh was based upon Milne’s Christopher Robin’s teddy bear, Winnie-the-Pooh. Milne named the teddy bear’s last name from his family’s swan.

Christopher Robin cared a great deal for his Winnie-the-Pooh. This is an excellent one-liner about his love for his teddy bear, “Promise me you'll always remember that you're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."

I am no different than Christopher Robin. I love and care for my Ginger the Pooh. I learned something about life due to my two dances with death. I know my clock is ticking. Everyone knows that they are finite. There is a big difference between those who danced with death and those who haven’t. While we all know intellectually that we are mere mortals, dancers know that in their gut. I would not want to relive my two dances, but I wouldn’t delete them from my life. It changed my entire Weltanschauung. That huge database about living can’t be learned without coming close to death.

My second Ginger Pooh was born on October 28, 2016, and I picked her up around Christmas that year. This is Ginger resting after a long day of playing.

This is Ginger looking like she drank too much eggnog.

This is a painting done by Than Tun Oo of Ginger. Than is a good friend of mine and a great artist in Myanmar.

Ginger’s first half of her life was a fun time for both of us. However, her second half of life included a couple of dances with death. She was hospitalized several times at Purdue Veterinary Hospital’s canine ICU. We have been down to PVH so many times for appointments I have lost count. Whenever Ginger has a couple of weeks without additional meds, I feel the duality of both happiness and fear. Amid joy, I worry about what lurks just around the corner.

Ginger only eats wet and dry prescription food. This is Ginger’s medicine cabinet in my kitchen. She also takes refrigerated probiotics.

For the time being, all is well. Last week, I took Ginger to Hobart Animal Clinic to see her vet. Dr. Wozniak suggested changing her dog food would resolve several issues. After a couple of months, all is well...for the time being.

This video is of Ginger thanking Dr. Wozniak.

Does this look like an unhealthy Ginger Pooh?

This is an afterthought. On one of my trips to visit my family, I saw two stray dogs playing in a street in Yangon, Myanmar. It is a photo on a wall in my home.

Every time I see the picture, it troubles me. Myanmar is a developing country. How often do you think those two strays have gone to a vet? Ginger was fortunate to have been born in the States.

Beyond the issue of canine poverty, the World Bank states that 712 million people live on less than $2.15 a day. What are you doing to help address world poverty?

This is what Trump’s administration is trying to do. The wealthiest man in the world, Elon Musk, wants to do away with USAID. Musk wants to end America’s annual $43 billion budget for USAID’s humanitarian assistance to the world.

USAID helps developing countries.