Shortly after we bought our house, we went looking for a dog. My youngest son was two and we knew that we would need a mild tempered and patient dog. We went into the local Petco and they were hosting the Humane Society who had a bunch of dogs who were ready for adoption. As we walked around, we found one who was laying down, and not really paying attention to all the commotion going on around her. Even when my son poked at her, this dog just laid there.
I knew we found our dog.
We did not have a too much information about the dog, except that she had been found pregnant and wondering the streets. The vets thought she was about 5 years old. She had puppies in the care of an elderly couple who fed her hamburger and rice every day. But the time we got her, she was pretty overweight.
For the past 8 years she has been a constant companion for our family. My middle son and daughter have been particularly fond of her. For the dog's part, she preferred me. When K and I were still sleep together the dog slept on the floor on my side of the bed. When I move to another room, the dog still slept with me.
Even over the past year when it was getting difficult for her to walk up and down the stairs, but she still came up to sleep next to my bed.
We found out today she had liver cancer. We all when to the vet and said good bye. I took the kids and K stayed behind to be with the dog at the end.
I am not really sad for the dog. She had a good life with us. She went from running the street as a stray with a litter of puppies, to being a pampered pet who's only job was to be cute at the right moment.
But what it did do, was get me thinking about how short life is. Yes, people live longer than dogs, but the reality is our lives are finite. We do not have all the time in the world. When the end comes, no one will know, but when it comes, there is nothing you can do to stop it.
What is the lesson here? Life the life that you have. Do not waste one more minute being someone you are not. Do not pass up on the love of your life because of what others might think. Do not dwell in fear of the change that is inevitable.
My worst nightmare is being on my deathbed and regretting that I wasted the one life I was given by God.
3 comments:
Funny, I heard this sentence today but a bit differently
Life's short, eat cake.
So I'm going to follow that idea.
With the way you decided to treat your life, I think you won't regret much. Have fun and of course, eat cake but what happened to the chicken soup and restless boyfriend?
Second guessing your whole life will not get you anywhere...
Try to make the right choices and be proud of who you are and what you've accomplished.
If it's any indication of how successful your life is, take a simple look at your kids!!!!
That brought tears to my eyes. Thanks for sharing the lesson you took away from that. We all need to be reminded that life is short!
Hope the family is getting over the loss.
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