Remember
yesterday, when you wrote down the first thought you had this morning? Great.
Now write a post about it.
The scene
when I woke up this morning: my dog was
lying in between my husband and me (which seems to be one of his favorite spots
to be), but instead of sleeping, he had his head lifted up, looking toward the
window. My first thought was: “What are
you thinking, Gunner?”
There are
many, many things I love about my husband, and one of my earliest recollections
of my falling in love with him is linked to his love for animals, all
animals. We were riding our bikes from
point A to point B when he was still a resident of the small island of
Roi-Namur, and suddenly in the quiet of the moment, he spoke to the birds in
the grass beside us. At first, I questioned…did he just speak to the birds? The
next time it happened, I just smiled, realizing that yes, he does speak to
birds and dogs and octopus and any other creature of the animal or mammal world
that he comes across. AND not only does
he speak to them, he speaks for them, often relaying what he believes they
might be thinking out loud. There’s
something about this trait of his that truly endears me to him.
During our
years on the island, neither of us had a pet, so we loved to meet and visit
with other’s pets, and we frequently “pet-sit” for our friends on vacation. We
would talk about what type of dog we would like to get when we finally moved
back to the states and what life would be like with our pet. So, within 8 months of our MAJOR life change
move from overseas to WA, we adopted Gunner. And boy, did we pick a pet that
would consume our life as much as the thought of him consumed our minds during
our many “pet conversations” in the islands.
I only had 2
dogs and some fish as part of my 39 years of life before Gunner, and one of the
dogs was not ever really a big part of my life. All I remember about my
brothers’ dog, Puppy, was that he was very scared of thunderstorms (living in
AL in the spring is NOT the place this dog needed to be), and if he was not
inside when the thunder and lightning started, he was out of there, and I’m
talking over the chain link fence and far away out of there! He usually came
back if we couldn’t get him inside before the storm, until he didn’t. I’m not even sure how long we had him or
where my parents got him from, but I always felt bad, not knowing what became
of him. I wonder what my brothers’
memories are of Puppy? I don’t think I’ve ever actually asked them.
Priscilla
(or ‘cilla for short) was the shorthaired dachshund my mom and I picked out
from a pet store in the Madison Square Mall not long before my dad and my two
brothers moved out of the house (my dad because of the divorce and my brothers
to head off to college). ‘Cilla became
OUR protective, little guard dog, spoiled, untrained, and very, very LOVED. J
Unfortunately, she only lived about 4 years. Having been clipped by a
car trying to chase after a dog four times her size across the busiest street
in our neighborhood may have done her in.
There were no marks, no vet visits for the accident, but within 2 years,
her bowels gave way, her back legs stopped working, and the only humane thing
was to put her to sleep. It was devastating for my mom and me. She took care of
us during those first years of transition from being a family of 5 to a family
of 2.
And now
there’s Gunner. I had forgotten how much responsibility comes with a dog. I had
forgotten how needy they could be. I had forgotten how much I could fall in
love with a dog and worry about his well being.
Over the years, I have picked up my husband’s habit to “speak for the
animals,” so when I woke up this morning, I looked at Gunner and wondered what
he was thinking, then I answered my question for him, “When are we getting up
and going outside today?” is what I believe he was thinking. So, my first thought this morning was of him,
and my first thought upon arriving home each afternoon during the week is of
him and where to take him to run, where to go to allow him his much needed
exercise. It’s like having a new
baby. I miss him when we are away, and
much of my daily life is taken up by his needs and wants when we are home. But, that’s okay, I so missed having a pet
since the loss of Priscilla, and Gunner needed a home, so we are serving each
other’s needs and wants! J
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