Love to the Max

Last night my friend lost her dog, Max. She got him as a puppy when she was in college and he has been her faithful, loving canine companion for the past 14 years. I don't know what breed of dog Max was as I only met him a handful of times but I do remember him as a very sweet and lovable pup. As Max got older his hips grew weak. The last time I was at Moira's apartment I watched my friend pick up Max's hind legs to help him walk up the stairs. The love and respect between those two souls was palpable.

My heart goes out to Moira and her wife Brianne as they mourn his loss. Just thinking about losing a dog makes me cry, particularly if I think about my own. I'm certain the number of times she's mentioned in my blog gives away how much a part of my life she is.

This past year several of my friends have lost their beloved pets. I wasn't blogging at the time, so they didn't each get their own posts but I just want to put gratitude out into the universe for Mookie, Tigger, Scotch and of course, Max.

In an effort to move from tears into my usual pondering of life, I've been thinking about the love that pets bring to our lives. They provide us lessons in patience, unconditional acceptance and playing, just because you feel like it. Specifically with dogs and cats, their average life spans are so much shorter than those of their masters, so we should cherish every possible moment with them; pet them more, be less inconvenienced when their wants don't match up with our own.

Whenever I think of losing a pet, I remember this email forward I received many years ago, back when email was still a pretty new thing. It contained a story written from the point of view of a dog. As a puppy he was purchased from a pet store by a young guy. He and his master romped and played and went everywhere together. It was love... well, until his master fell in love with a girl who wasn't so fond of dogs. When the relationship became serious, the dog found himself relocated to the home of his master's friend, one filled with three children. The children lovingly poked, prodded and generally wreaked havoc on him but he loved them and kept a special place in his heart for his original master who didn't visit. As the dog got older, he eventually got sick and was put down. In a very heart wrenching first person narrative, the dog described the things he saw and smelled as this process happened and his intense desire to see his original master one last time.

It has been over a decade since I read that email and even now just describing it has made me cry (again). The purpose of the chain letter was actually to discourage people from selfishly getting puppies just because they're so darn cute and to consider the responsibility of caring for a pet for its entire life. At the time, I didn't have any pets, so the story stuck with me based on sentimental value but clearly, it had an impact. Our pets deserve as much love and devotion from us as they provide.

I've spent much of the morning loving on GK. As Alissia said in a text message to me this morning "Love on her endlessly. We should love... our time is measured!" Obviously these words don't have to be narrowly applied to our relationships with our pets, even though they are the inspiration for my post. We should love [EVERYONE]. We never know how long we will have them in our lives and when we look back, we want to see how much love we gave, not withheld. Love fully, love deeply, love unendingly. Love to the Max. (pun most definitely intended. RIP Max)