The Journey
Author~Crystal Ward Kent
When you bring a pet into your life, you begin a journey - a journey
that will bring you more love and devotion than you have ever known,
yet also test your strength and courage.
If you allow, the journey will teach you many things, about life,
about yourself, and most of all, about love. You will come away
changed forever, for one soul cannot touch another without leaving
its mark. Along the way, you will learn much about savoring life's
simple pleasures - jumping in leaves, snoozing in the sun, the joys
of puddles, and even the satisfaction of a good scratch behind the
ears.
If you spend much time outside, you will be taught how to truly
experience every element, for no rock, leaf, or log will go unexamined,
no rustling bush will be overlooked, and even the very air will
be inhaled, pondered, and noted as being full of valuable information.
Your pace may be slower - except when heading home to the food dish
- but you will become a better naturalist, having been taught by
an expert in the field.
Too many times we hike on automatic pilot, our goal being to complete
the trail rather than enjoy the journey. We miss the details - the
colorful mushrooms on the rotting log, the honeycomb in the old
maple snag, the hawk feather caught on a twig. Once we walk as a
dog does, we discover a whole
new world. We stop; we browse the landscape, we kick over leaves,
peek in tree holes, look up, down, all around. And we learn what
any dog knows: that nature has created a marvelously complex world
that is full of surprises, that each cycle of the seasons bring
ever changing wonders, each day an essence all its own.
Even from indoors you will find yourself more attuned to the world
around you. You will find yourself watching summer insects collecting
on a screen.(How bizarre they are! How many kinds there are!), or
noting the flick and flash of fireflies through the dark. You will
stop to observe the swirling dance of windblown leaves, or sniff
the air after a rain. It does not matter that there is no objective
in this; the point is in the doing, in not letting life's most important
details slip by.
You will find yourself doing silly things that your pet-less friends
might not understand: spending thirty minutes in the grocery aisle
looking for the cat food brand your feline must have, buying dog
birthday treats, or driving around the block an extra time because
your pet enjoys the ride. You will roll in the snow, wrestle with
chewie toys, bounce little rubber balls till your eyes cross, and
even run around the house trailing your bathrobe tie - with a cat
in hot pursuit - all in the name of love.
Your house will become muddier and hairier. You will wear less
dark clothing and buy more lint rollers. You may find dog biscuits
in your pocket or purse, and feel the need to explain that an old
plastic shopping bag adorns your living room rug because your cat
loves the crinkly sound.
You will learn the true measure of love - the steadfast, undying
kind that says, "It doesn't matter where we are or what we
do, or how life treats us as long as we are together." Respect
this always. It is the most precious gift any living soul can give
another. You will not find it often among the human race.
And you will learn humility. The look in my dog's eyes often made
me feel ashamed. Such joy and love at my presence. She saw not some
flawed human who could be cross and stubborn, moody or rude, but
only her wonderful companion. Or maybe she saw those things and
dismissed them as mere human foibles, not worth considering, and
so chose to love me anyway.
If you pay attention and learn well, when the journey is done,
you will benot just a better person, but the person your pet always
knew you to be - the one they were proud to call beloved friend.
I must caution you that this journey is not without pain. Like
all paths of true love, the pain is part of loving. For as surely
as the sun sets, one day your dear animal companion will follow
a trail you cannot yet go down.
And you will have to find the strength and love to let them go.
A pet's time on earth is far too short - especially for those that
love them. We borrow them, really, just for awhile, and during these
brief years they are generous enough to give us all their love,
every inch of their spirit and heart, until one day there is nothing
left. The cat that only yesterday was a kitten is all too soon old
and frail and sleeping in the sun. The young pup of boundless energy
wakes up stiff and lame, the muzzle now gray. Deep down we somehow
always knew that this journey would end. We knew that if we gave
our hearts they would be broken.
But give them we must for it is all they ask in return. When the
time comes, and the road curves ahead to a place we cannot see,
we give one final gift and let them run on ahead - young and whole
once more.
"Godspeed, good friend," we say, until our journey comes
full circle and our paths cross again.
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