Photo by Eli Duke
“It was only a dog,” a well-intentioned friend might say.
Really? What if we thought of friends and family as “only people”? You might as well add, “How can you love something that is 93 percent water?”
The meaning of the beloved, whether person or pet, is in the heart of the one who loves. And that kind of love is one of the few things we can claim as truly divine.
Rob Pasick explores that spiritual connection between man and dog through his connection with his beloved Lucy, in his book Conversations With My Old Dog.
With his children grown, Rob found himself more observant of his old dog than he might have been otherwise. He comments on her ability to only do one thing at once, and to enjoy that one thing fully—something he admits he fails at frequently. He admires her easy acceptance of the aging process while he and his peers fight the effects of gravity and time with tooth and nail. And he wonders if she has somehow prepared herself for the end, or if she even knows it is coming.
Rob’s book is a gentle reminder of the connections we make with our pets, and confirmation that grieving their passing is not only okay, but necessary.
Conversations With My Old Dog is available through this web site or through Amazon.com.
