It is Thursday the 17th of September 2015 and precisely one year, since Cara Mia passed on. Her picture adorns several walls in our home, her ashes and clay footprint are on a side table in our bedroom. Cara is never far from our minds; we constantly share new experiences by saying that Cara would have enjoyed this or that. The sorrowness in our hearts is mitigated by our belief that one day we will all be reunited and by a parable found in fabled commentary:
An Angel came to God and had a question concerning animals. The Angel did not understand why God gave One Hundred or more years of life to a turtle, Thirty years to a horse, Twenty to cows and yet for dogs, the closest animal to interact with humans, God only gave them a relatively short lifetime.
God answered by saying that specifically because dogs and humans interact in a loving, caring and co-dependent relationship, he gave the dogs a vital and selfless task, however gilded with love. God went on to explain that his great design of man included an unending capacity to love again and again. The emptiness one feels when their dog’s passing becomes real, can be quenched from this well of never-ending love, especially when a new spirit (dog) is introduced to a human. Thus, dogs embody my greatest gift to man – the ability to love and love again. This is the precious message dogs bring to man.
This parable is truth – everyone who has experienced a dog’s death and said they could never love another dog with the same intensity or depth, invariably love the next puppy with as much concentration of emotion as they felt for the prior dog. It is the blessing of possessing perpetual and unceasing emanations of love, that is wonderfully inherent in us all.
We know the raw truth in this as we have welcomed a new puppy into our lives; Oliver is a Six Month old male Papillon. After 28 years of living with German Shepherds, a Toy dog took a bit of time to get used to, more to the point, one must watch where you’re walking on on what you are sitting. The moment Oliver appeared that ceaseless and torrential pond of amorousness overflowed and we hungrily imbibed in God’s greatest gift – love.
We miss Cara Mia with all our hearts and having Oliver in our lives brings honor to Cara’s memory and the time she generously gave of herself.
May God bless you Cara Mia and may you scamper and run in the fields of his beneficence.