Day 49

There are a few exciting things coming up in the next few weeks for me, but I’m just not feeling it right now. The world keeps going and things are normal and that’s weird to me. How can the world just go on when my life has changed so drastically in such a short period of time?

Someone asked me today if I was going to get another dog. I have to admit that I started thinking about it, but I’m just not sure. I’m definitely not ready right now to bring in a new dog and Maxine seems to be doing fine, which I’m thankful for. This is the first time she is an only dog, so I want to savor this time with her and not stress her out with a new companion right away. I also just don’t want to go through this heartbreak again, but having dogs will always remind me of my mom and all the wonderful dogs who have come through my life so far. So yes, I will eventually get another dog, I just don’t know when.

Dogs die so soon. I have my stories of that grief, no doubt many of you do also. It is almost a failure of will, a failure of love, to let them grow old — or so it feels. We would do anything to keep them with us, and to keep them young. The one gift we cannot give.

Mary Oliver