Friday, May 14, 2010

Our K-9 Friends....and the limited time we have with them


I have recently come to the sobering conclusion that “ Time ” is the most precious commodity we have.

No item you can obtain is more valuable, more needed, desired and more irreplaceable. Each of us is allotted a certain amount ( by a Heavenly Timekeeper) and when that allotment is up, it is up….there is no way to add time back on to the clock…..

I recently got to spend two great weeks at home with friends & family….now back in the AFGHN, I am feeling the full implication of how valuable the time I had at home is (and was)…my next break is likely not for another 5-7 months….ugh.

Some of this introspection was brought on by the news of the loss of a friend’s beloved K9 companion….I also have a friend who will likely lose his K-9 friend in the next few months due to cancer….Dogs come into our lives and leave well before we are ready to let them go….such is as it ever was…

Man and the ancestors of our K-9 friends made an unwritten, unspoken agreement 15000 years ago….we would provide warmth along with ready access to food & shelter – in turn, they would protect us from the things that lurked in the darkness that wanted to have us for dinner….it is likely the longest unbroken agreement in history as it has been honored by both sides without fail ever since.

My wife and I lost a beloved K-9 family member a number of years ago – the enclosed poem was a comfort to me at that time of loss….If heaven doesn’t include our K-9 friends, I don’t want to go.

She’s just my dog.
She is my other eyes that can see above the clouds;
My other ears that hear above the winds.
She is the part of me that can reach out into the sea.

She has told me a thousand times over that I am her reason for being.
By the way she rests against my leg.
By the way she wags her tail at my smallest smile.
By the way she shows her hurt when I leave without taking her.

( I think it makes her sick with worry when she is not along to care for me.)

When I am wrong, she is delighted to forgive me.
When I am angry, she clowns to make me smile.
When I am happy, she is joy unbounded.
When I am a fool, she ignores it.
When I succeed, she brags.

Without her, I am only another person.
With her, I am all-powerful…..and complete.
She has taught me the meaning of love and devotion.
She is loyalty itself.

With her, I know a secret comfort and a private peace.
She has brought me understanding where before I was ignorant.
Her head on my knee can heal my human hurts.
Her presesence by my side is protection against my fears of dark and unknown things.

She has promised to wait for me……Whenever……Wherever.
In case I need her.
And I expect I will – as I always have.
She is my dog.

Author Unknown




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