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"The
Journey"
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 will 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 will 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 awhile,
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 lame, 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.
-- Crystal Ward Kent
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