For Sadie

My dog is not doing well. She is fourteen, close to fifteen and has been a joy to us literally her entire life. So as sappy as it seems, I’m writing this as therapy for myself. As a way of preparing myself for the inevitable.

She was almost four months old when we got her. She was prancing around the yard behind the trailer where her owner lived. Her father/sire was a big, magnificent red golden. He put his paws up on the fence, where he was held, to greet me and was nearly my height. Kept in a separate pen, Sadie’s mother was probably a mutt, and very sweet and tired. I tried to comfort her. Tell her I would take good care of her baby. Sadie was the last one of the litter. She no doubt would have had a similar fate had we not adopted her. A life of giving birth to litter after litter.

We see a lot of cute videos about animals on youtube and facebook these days. It seems we all feel that unshakeable bond. Elephants, pandas, birds, cats, goats… just about every living creature that has been a pet you can think of. What’s it about? I think it’s about their innocence, their loving nature. Their dependence on us, their ability to give freely without guile. Their loyalty. Their companionship. We talk a lot about unconditional love, but here it’s more the rule than the exception. Unshakeable sweetness. All of those things, and so much more.  

Two times, many years ago I had life-threatening illnesses. Every afternoon, I would have to lay down to rest. Sadie would climb up on the bed, back up to me and literally lay across me. It was if she was giving me healing treatments. It worked. She never did this any other time before or since. She knew. How? I don’t know. But it worked.

My good girl is still with me. I don’t know for how long. But every moment, I will try to give her what she has always given me.