So God Made A Dog
Today I’m remembering. Today I’m leafing through photo boxes and digital files. Today I’m frantically wanting to find that little puppy face that captured our heart over 13 years ago. The excited face. The happy tail. The sweet puppy with the puppy breath that we inhaled straight into our hearts. The day that we picked out that sweet bundle of fur and took him home to become woven into our lives like a tightly knit sweater binding us as one.
We are one. We are a unit. We are “mom”, “dad”, and Bailey. He knows we are one. Where we go, he goes. We can count on 1 hand the number of times we have left him on vacation and he didn’t go – in 13 years.
“Do you take dogs?” we ask, always thinking about him by our side. He’s been to the beach more than most kids and frolicked in the ocean at Laguna, San Diego, Redondo Beach, Long Beach, and Mexico. He’s chased other dogs in strange dog parks. He’s slept in cabins, hotels, beach houses, and been by our side inseparable, throughout the years, never minding where we were. Or the long rides. Or being in the back seat with luggage and beach chairs and sometimes the grandkids crowding his seat. The only thing that really mattered to him was the need to be beside us constantly.
The years have gone by and his have gone faster – it doesn’t seem fair. We watch him closely now, like a mom watches their baby with a fever. He struggles getting up. He struggles with having fun. He chooses to not be around when there’s company or loud noises or kids playing. He just wants to be….. alone with us.
The day will come when he lets us know. The day will come when he’s done trying to act like everything’s ok. The day will come when he can’t remember to wag his tail. The day will come when he’s had enough… and we will know. And our lives will never be the same from that point forward.
So, I write this with tears in my eyes – for what is to come. And I prepare myself for that day. The thread that binds us will be broken on this earth and our life will go on without that beautiful face and the sun will shine dimmer.
That face. The one that is looking at me now while I type. The one that can still smile and remember the joy of our nightly walks. And can still pull off the wagging tail. And he can still pretend he’s ok.
So I embrace that face. And I embrace this day with him. And I joyfully embrace this walk with him by my side. And we will both take each day as it comes….
Simply yours,
K
Addition to this Post:
On February 5th, 2016 we lost our sweet boy. He could no longer pretend that everything was ok and let us know that it was time to let him go.
And now the sun shines dimmer without that beautiful face….
Brown Eyed Susan's
