vets, she regained the use of her legs. Today you'd never know
she was injured. She has a fierce drive to thrive, if for nothing else,
to live so she can continue to be at my side, through all the good and
bad, the years and circumstances toss at us. Her devotion and loyalty to
me are unwavering.
I've learned more about the human condition through my relationship
with her, than with any other thing I've ever encountered. Her life force
and her heart are like beacons. And the light she radiates unveils the
best and the worst attributes of my humanity. She helps me rise above my
baser self; enriching my life as I strive to be more like the loving being
her spirit exemplifies.
I can’t accept that my eyes may never see her, that my ears may not
hear her, that my hands couldn't gently touch her. Or, that my arms couldn’t
lift her up so that I can nuzzle her ear and tell her how deeply I love
her. I cannot reconcile these things for she is there, in my mind all the
time, residing in my heart, warming my spirit, and touching my soul. She
is so much a presence within me that surely she will never be absent from
my tactile world. Can it be I will never hear her sigh, or hear her
breath in sleep? Or look into her eyes, always brimming with love for me?
The soft shuffle of her feet at my side as we walk -- gone someday? The
bright and happy little girl who loved me beyond any human capacity to
do the same. She is my family, companion, and friend.
I want so to see her ever-wagging tail, her brown loving eyes ever waiting
for the queue to check out things for my safety…forever.
Mark Crider (C) 2005
