Simple Solutions

My puppies have not made an appearance here in a while, so they're due.  Puppy girl has been doing fairly well for a mature woman of 13.5 years.  She's been losing a bit of weight of late, and that has been a concern.  Off to the vet she went, along with her worshipful puppy boy.  She's fine, a small cyst on the inside of her lip, but all the bloodwork was normal.  Still....she's not eating much, and when she doesn't eat, neither does her adoring boy.  Worrisome.  I came home today, and again noticed she wasn't eating.  I put on my detective hat and wondered if the cyst was making chewing painful.  Maybe she broke a tooth.  So, I softened up some of her dog food.....and she scarfed it down.  So did her boy toy.  I feel better, she feels better, and we have more information to tell the vet.  Simple solution to a perplexing dilemma.
I have a case here in the Trenches that reminds me of my puppie girl.  No matter which way we approach it, a resolution slips through our hands.  The client wants one thing.  We explore it, we pursue it.  That's not what the client wants.  The client can't find time to meet.  We rearrange our schedules; the client changes plans and blames us.  We figure it's us, that we're missing something, that we're lacking in our advice and how we're approaching the case.  We beat ourselves up.  We try again.  Nothing.  We're so frustrated.  Then, we figure it out.  The solution is so simple we're amazed we didn't see it.  Nothing's making sense because the client is ambivalent about what they want.  They say they want a divorce, but their actions don't.  Such a relief.  Now we know what to do and how to help.  Just like my puppy girl.   Here in the Trenches.