Taffy loved swimming, popcorn, tummy rubs, squeaky newspaper toys, and going to
gramma's house. I was thinking about her last night, because it was just a year ago that she died. I was very blessed in that I didn't see her get sick. In my memory she's healthy and energetic, full of life. I had moved to Kansas before she got sick, and when I came home for Thanksgiving she had already passed away. She was the best dog.
I was trying to think of my favorite Taffy memory...it was really hard to pin down a favorite one. She was a sneaky dog, who at times made us all crazy. She would steal food and eat ballet slippers. I don't think my
grampa's forgiven her for eating an entire angel food cake at their house once. It was also incredibly annoying how she'd practically go into a panic when we would pack up to go on a vacation. Even when she was coming with, she would run back and forth and get underfoot, just to make sure that she didn't get forgotten. When I would come home from college I would let her sleep in my bed, well on my bed. She was never allowed under the covers. That was our thing. She wouldn't do it on any other furniture, or on my bed when I wasn't there.
There is a book, that any person who has a dog should read. Marley and Me by John
Grogan. It's a really easy read, a good weekend book. One of my favorite parts is the excerpt below, it is the author's perspective on dogs after their beloved family dog Marley had to be put to sleep. I couldn't agree with him more.
"Yes, it was only a dog, and dogs come and go in the
course of human life, sometimes simply because they become an inconvenience. It was only a dog, and yet every time I tried to talk about
Marley to them, tears welled in my eyes. I told them it was okay to cry, and that owning a dog always ended with this sadness because dogs just don't live as long as people do....What I really wanted to say was how this animal had touched our souls and taught us some of the most
important lessons of our lives. "A person can learn a lot from a dog, even a loopy one like ours", I wrote. "
Marley taught me about living each day with unbridled exuberance and joy, about seizing the moment and following your heart. He taught me to appreciate the simple things - a walk in the woods, a fresh snowfall, a nap in a shaft of winter sunlight. And as he grew old and achy, he taught me about optimism in the face of adversity. Mostly, he taught me about friendship and selflessness, and above all else, unwavering loyalty."
What an amazing concept that I only now, in the wake of his death, fully absorbing:
Marley as mentor. As teacher and role model. Was it possible for a dog - any dog, but especially a nutty, wildly uncontrollable one like ours - to point humans to the things that really mattered in life? I believed it was. Loyalty. Courage. Devotion. Simplicity. Joy. And the things that did not matter too. A dog has no use for fancy cars, or big homes, or designer clothes. Status symbols mean nothing to him. A water logged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class, but by who they are inside. A dog doesn't care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his. It was really quite simple, and yet we humans, so much wiser and more sophisticated, have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not. As I wrote that
farewell column to
Marley, I realized that it was all right there in front of us, if only we opened our eyes. Sometimes it took a dog with bad breath, worse manners and pure intentions to help us see. "
From Marley and Me - John Grogan
