When you bring a pet into your life, you
begin a journey - a journey that will bring you more love and devotion than
you have ever known, yet also test your strength and courage.
If you allow, the journey wilt teach you
many things, about life, about yourself, and most of all, about love. You will
come away changed forever, for one soul cannot touch another without leaving
its mark.
Along the
way, you will learn much about
savoring life's simple pleasures -
jumping in leaves, snoozing
in the sun, the
Joys of puddles, and even the
satisfaction of a good scratch behind the ears.
If you spend much time outside, you will be
taught how to truly experience every element, for no rock, leaf, or log will
go unexamined, no rustling bush will be overlooked, and even the very air will
be inhaled, pondered, and noted as being full of valuable information. Your
pace may be slower - except when heading home to the food dish - but you will
become a better naturalist, having been taught by an expert in the field.
Too many times we hike on automatic pilot,
our goal being to complete the trail rather than enjoy the journey. We miss
the details • the colorful mushrooms on the rotting log, the honeycomb in the
old maple snag, the hawk feather caught on a twig. Once we walk as a dog does,
we discover a whole new world. We stop; we browse the landscape, we kick over
leaves, peek in tree holes, look up, down, all around. And we learn what any
dog knows: that nature has created a marvelously complex world that is full of
surprises, that each cycle of the seasons bring ever changing wonders, each
day an essence all its own.
Even from indoors
you will find
yourself more attuned to the
world around you. You will
find yourself watching summer insects
collecting on a screen. (How bizarre
they are! How
many kinds
there are!),
or noting the flick and flash of
fireflies through the dark. You will stop to
observe the swirling dance of windblown leaves, or sniff
the air
after a rain.
It does not matter
that there is no objective in this;
the point is in the doing, in
not letting life's most important details slip
by.
You will find yourself doing silly things
that your pet-less friends might not understand: spending thirty minutes in
the grocery aisle looking for the cat food brand your feline must have, buying
dog birthday treats, or driving around the block an extra time because your
pet enjoys the ride. You will roll in the snow, wrestle with chewy toys,
bounce little rubber balls till your eyes cross, and even run around the house
trailing your bathrobe tie - with a cat in hot pursuit - all in the name of
love.
Your house will become muddier and hairier.
You will wear less dark clothing and buy more lint rollers. You may find dog
biscuits in your pocket or purse, and feel the need to explain that an old
plastic shopping bag adorns your living room rug because your cat loves the
crinkly sound.
You will learn the true measure of love -
the steadfast, undying kind that says, "It doesn't matter where we are or what
we do, or how life treats us as long as we are together." Respect this always.
It is the most precious gift any living soul can give another. You will not
find it often among the human race.
And you will learn humility. The look in my
dog's eyes often made me feel ashamed. Such joy and love at my presence. She
saw not some flawed human who could be cross and stubborn, moody or rude, but
only her wonderful companion. Or maybe she saw those things and dismissed them
as mere human foibles, not worth considering, and so chose to love me anyway.
If you
pay attention and
learn well,
when the journey is
done, you wilt be
not just a better
person, but the
person your pet always knew
you to be • the one they were
proud to call beloved friend.
I must caution you that this Journey is not
without pain. Like all paths of true love, the pain is part of loving. For as
surely as the sun sets, one day your dear animal companion will follow a trail
you cannot yet go down. And you will have to find the strength and love to let
them go. A pet's time on earth is far too short - especially for those that
love them. We borrow them, really, just for a while, and during these brief
years they are generous enough to give us all their love, every inch of their
spirit and heart, until one day there is nothing left.
The cat that only yesterday was a kitten is
all too soon old and frail and sleeping in the sun. The young pup of boundless
energy wakes up stiff and tames the muzzle now gray. Deep down, we somehow
always knew that this journey would end. We knew that if we gave our hearts
they would be broken. But give them we must for it is all they ask in return.
When the time comes, and the road curves
ahead to a place we cannot see, we give one final gift and let them run on
ahead - young and whole once more. "Godspeed, good friend," we say, until our
Journey comes full circle and our paths cross again.
