My Old Dog, Colette

A simple, sweet moment with potent impact.

Warm, lazy body perched upon pillows by the windowsill.

Pink tongue lapping at her soft snout and old lady whiskers.

A face that was once cloaked in black, now wears a veil of snow. I look at her as she watches the snowflakes fall outside and I wonder if this will be her last winter.

At 4 o’clock this morning, I woke up to her furry muzzle resting on the edge of our bed.

How long had she been standing like that, pleading with my sleeping form with her soft, doe eyes?

I knew what it meant… 12 years with a dog and you know not just what their barks, growls, and flamboyant body language mean, but you can decode the gentle, subtler cues as well.

She wanted to be curled up in bed with us tonight, but her legs don’t have the same spring power they used to even a few months ago.

Eyes half shut, I stumbled out of bed and hoisted her 50 pound frame onto the mattress where my husband and our other old dog already lay snoring.

I climbed back in beside her and let my body curl around hers.

Felt her heart beating a bit faster from the lift and smelled her rotten breath as she let out a yawn. I stroked the top of her head, felt her soft ever-shedding fur gracing my right hand while my left arm wrapped around her barrel chest.

A lonely tear slid down my cheek and landed on the corner of my lip. I tasted the hot salt.

A lump in my throat pulsed, whispering to my soul,

Remember this. This is love.

I fell asleep with my old girl in my arms and woke up to her in the same spot.

As always, I spent the rest of the morning with her at my feet… her steady presence reminding me how good it feels to be in the company of someone who finds your energy to be filled with goodness, light, and trust.

As soon as I finished my chores and curled up on the sofa to write, she took her post right across from me, blessing me with the gentle knowing that there is so much beauty in the fleetingness of time and in these moments in life where we truly do have it all.