It occurred to me the other day that sometime in about a hundred years, my dog is maybe going to die. I realized it after I thought of how much fun Oak will have with Kokomo (our 8-year-old lab) when he is 10. Making Kokomo 18. After a google search, apparently that's ancient in yellow lab dog years, which caused me to spiral into a super depressed state wondering if all dogs do really go to heaven and what I can do to prevent this whole situation. My guess? Give the dog wine.
Three days later, my mom called and told me her dog died. As you guessed, this didn't help my mental state.
Dogs. What amazing souls that we get to have in our lives. They aren't on Facebook, don't care about fashion, and will drink water from a toilet. Best of all, they are loyal and non-judgemental beyond belief. Even on our worst days, they are happy to see us for some strange reason.
After I accepted the circle of life and embraced the fact that Kokomo was in fact still alive, I did the only thing I know how to do to freeze time: I photographed it.
Oak might not remember the way that Kokomo lets him crawl all over her and rip at her eye sockets and I might forget how slowly she walks in when I stand holding open the front door in the freezing cold for a billion minutes. We might even forget how she seems to roll her eyes at us like a teenager when we talk to her like she's a baby. How sad that us humans seem to get some kind of pet memory dementia.
Kokomo moved with me across the country, saw me leave for my first day of big girl work, watched me get married, bring a baby home from the hospital, and somehow bumble my way into adulthood. She survived eating an entire fruitcake, 5 pounds of raw potatoes, 20 pounds of dog food, a pan of brownies and a strange list of non-edibles. She is a beast.
So, for one day, I made it my mission to freeze time with my friend. I know she will never leave, but for those of you with pets that might, don't forget to document their part in your awesome life. <3
0 comments:
Post a Comment