Wonderful! I love the dogs romping gleefully between houses. Thanks for another uplifting story. Our dog has passed away, but we now have an ‘agreement’ with a cat.
This fluffy feline showed up one day and agreed to volunteer at our home as a cat. All we are obligated to do is feed her 2 or 3 times a day, brush her fur ( she loves this...) and tell her she’s beautiful. She sends her love to Cooper.
My damn Facebook memories today held the memory from three years ago of my dog being diagnosed with the heart condition that would take her from us during the peak of Covid. So I had double tears today. but in a good way, for what they bring into our lives and what still remains, even when they skipped this realm.
Are we the same person? Our “once in a lifetime” dog also was diagnosed with a heart condition (at not even 10!) and died in April 2020. :(
We finally said yes to a new puppy - and if her age was estimated correctly by the shelter, she would have been born right about the same time of year our beloved boy went - just two years later. I’m not too “woo woo”, but that felt very aligned.
This made me cry! I have a 12 year old American bulldog and a 17 year old cat. I know there will come a time when we have to say goodbye, and even though we know it’s coming I don’t think we’ll ever be prepared to lose them.
Love love love love loved this. I refused to open this one for a couple of weeks for every reason you can imagine. The sweet truth, the love, the wonder-filled awe and joy and sadness that mix every time I think about Cooper or Toast or Mara + Obi, my dogs is often too much to bear. Loving dogs is such a viscerally joy-filled, animated love, so fierce and clearly primal. Communicating with looks and nods and sounds and sign language built on trust and reassurance. There is no way to explain this without sounding morbid but every time I've hugged and kissed each of my dogs since I was a child it's always adoration mingled with bittersweetness. I love you so much, I say, swallowing the part where I acknowledge their impending death. That's part of the bargain. In order to love you I have to acknowledge the brevity of the love. The beauty of this transitory cosmic meetup. I love you so much you'll never get there, I whisper. Forever and ever. Coop is absolutely a legend in his own time. And the fact that you wrote this listening to Out of Africa, which may as well be tattooed on my DNA, is absolutely magic.
It's hard to look at any of them and not just see their deaths lingering right behind the joy. But damnit, it's worth it. And I hope I always feel that way.
Our town has a dog for a town marshall. One of the council members has a roamer, and the council member got tired of the tourists calling all worried because the dog was "found" doing her thing. She starts her patrol at our house most mornings, in through the dog door to see if my boys want to play. Even better if they didn't finish their dinner the night before. But the dog tag that says "Town Marshall" (we actually don't have any town law enforcement) has cut back on the drama from the city people who think all loose dogs are lost dogs.
Gorgeous. Ugh, these dogs. How could we ever live without them? I also connect with the idea of wanting to live a place where the dogs can run free. I remember mine growing up running to get the newspaper and i want that for Maddie but it takes i think a special kind of neighborhood. Great piece 💕
This was so good. Made me miss my Morgan, the English bulldog that thought she was human. When people would come to the house, she just assumed they were coming to see her, not the humans. She's been gone more than 20 years and I think I will always miss her.
This made my heart ache. The bitter sweet gift of attachment. The loss is hard to bare but somehow we do. Loved the descriptive writing and as always, high praise for the phrasing, word choices, tone and rhythm of the story (and thereby, life portrayed).
As I sat in my recliner by the fire, ready to look at my email, I heard the sound of our 11 year old JRT mix Zoey running towards me. I hurriedly put aside my iPad just before she bounced into my lap. Usually she wants to snuggle, but today her wagging tail and excited licks told me she wanted something else. Zoey usually doesn't want to play fetch in the colder months but when I whispered "want to play ball" she lit up. It was a short game but I was glad to get outside and spend the time with her. Coming back and reading your post kept that good feeling going. Dogs. Am I right?
Wonderful! I love the dogs romping gleefully between houses. Thanks for another uplifting story. Our dog has passed away, but we now have an ‘agreement’ with a cat.
This fluffy feline showed up one day and agreed to volunteer at our home as a cat. All we are obligated to do is feed her 2 or 3 times a day, brush her fur ( she loves this...) and tell her she’s beautiful. She sends her love to Cooper.
Love received! I love a Feline Arrangement.
My damn Facebook memories today held the memory from three years ago of my dog being diagnosed with the heart condition that would take her from us during the peak of Covid. So I had double tears today. but in a good way, for what they bring into our lives and what still remains, even when they skipped this realm.
Awww I’m sorry Amy 💛🐾
Are we the same person? Our “once in a lifetime” dog also was diagnosed with a heart condition (at not even 10!) and died in April 2020. :(
We finally said yes to a new puppy - and if her age was estimated correctly by the shelter, she would have been born right about the same time of year our beloved boy went - just two years later. I’m not too “woo woo”, but that felt very aligned.
Oh and Maddie was only 12. So hard to lose them.
They never live long enough.
Wow, ours died in May 2020. And I’m so glad you have another fur ball to love.
The only “bright spot” is that we were all WFH (normally office job people), so got to be there with him in his last few weeks. Man, DOGS.
This made me cry! I have a 12 year old American bulldog and a 17 year old cat. I know there will come a time when we have to say goodbye, and even though we know it’s coming I don’t think we’ll ever be prepared to lose them.
It’s the best self induced torture we have
Love love love love loved this. I refused to open this one for a couple of weeks for every reason you can imagine. The sweet truth, the love, the wonder-filled awe and joy and sadness that mix every time I think about Cooper or Toast or Mara + Obi, my dogs is often too much to bear. Loving dogs is such a viscerally joy-filled, animated love, so fierce and clearly primal. Communicating with looks and nods and sounds and sign language built on trust and reassurance. There is no way to explain this without sounding morbid but every time I've hugged and kissed each of my dogs since I was a child it's always adoration mingled with bittersweetness. I love you so much, I say, swallowing the part where I acknowledge their impending death. That's part of the bargain. In order to love you I have to acknowledge the brevity of the love. The beauty of this transitory cosmic meetup. I love you so much you'll never get there, I whisper. Forever and ever. Coop is absolutely a legend in his own time. And the fact that you wrote this listening to Out of Africa, which may as well be tattooed on my DNA, is absolutely magic.
It's hard to look at any of them and not just see their deaths lingering right behind the joy. But damnit, it's worth it. And I hope I always feel that way.
I laughed and cried reading this piece. I'm not giving up on getting a dog.Yet. The details really brought out emotions. I needed that today.
Our town has a dog for a town marshall. One of the council members has a roamer, and the council member got tired of the tourists calling all worried because the dog was "found" doing her thing. She starts her patrol at our house most mornings, in through the dog door to see if my boys want to play. Even better if they didn't finish their dinner the night before. But the dog tag that says "Town Marshall" (we actually don't have any town law enforcement) has cut back on the drama from the city people who think all loose dogs are lost dogs.
I could not love this more. About to get Cooper a sheriff's badge.
This was beautiful! I read it with a smile on my face widening with each lovely line.
:) that was my hope
Gorgeous. Ugh, these dogs. How could we ever live without them? I also connect with the idea of wanting to live a place where the dogs can run free. I remember mine growing up running to get the newspaper and i want that for Maddie but it takes i think a special kind of neighborhood. Great piece 💕
Sweet Maddie - the world will only get bigger for her!
This was so good. Made me miss my Morgan, the English bulldog that thought she was human. When people would come to the house, she just assumed they were coming to see her, not the humans. She's been gone more than 20 years and I think I will always miss her.
And that soundtrack is one of the best!
My first time listening to that soundtrack, and it really did the trick. Morgan sounds like a perfect pup. <3
thanks for the dogtown prose
And thank you for reading!
😭😭😭
This made my heart ache. The bitter sweet gift of attachment. The loss is hard to bare but somehow we do. Loved the descriptive writing and as always, high praise for the phrasing, word choices, tone and rhythm of the story (and thereby, life portrayed).
Coop will welcome his friend Josey any time!
I’m not a dog person (it’s what I keep telling myself anyway), but I am feeling ALL the feels with this one.
Turns out all it takes is one very good dog <3
Omg, this is so beautiful. What is that water running from my eyes?!?
haha, same!
As I sat in my recliner by the fire, ready to look at my email, I heard the sound of our 11 year old JRT mix Zoey running towards me. I hurriedly put aside my iPad just before she bounced into my lap. Usually she wants to snuggle, but today her wagging tail and excited licks told me she wanted something else. Zoey usually doesn't want to play fetch in the colder months but when I whispered "want to play ball" she lit up. It was a short game but I was glad to get outside and spend the time with her. Coming back and reading your post kept that good feeling going. Dogs. Am I right?
You are so right.
💙💙💙