I just came from dropping off Greg, my closest friend of 30 years (which really puts him in the family/sibling category) at the airport. He is on his way back home to Panama, where he moved to a few years ago to work on creating his own magical place on this earth. When he is here in the States, he stays with me and my dog Lexie. This last trip kept him here with us for a year and a half. And for a year and a half Lexie has had her own special best friend. Someone to be at home with her all day while I was work... someone to take her on daily hikes with her tail wagging friends... someone to give her extra treats... and someone to love on her all day long just because...well... just because. And for that year and a half Greg has had a companion to garden with...a face full of slobbery kisses every morning when he awoke... a partner to run errands with, who was content to just hang her head out the window and feel the wind in her ears...and a year and a half of pure, unconditional love. The kind of love that only comes from our four legged friends.They will miss each other tremendously.
Lexie patiently sat at home this last week as all of us human friends had our good bye celebrations, knowing in our rational minds that it would only be months until we all saw each other again. She lay on his bed all week and watched the closet get emptier as the suitcase got fuller, bulging at the seams. I know, as we all do, that our dogs sense change, and somehow are keenly aware of the hidden message behind our suitcases. I wonder if tonight as the three of us set off in the car, she knew it would just be the two of us coming home. After he and I hugged at the curb, he asked me to hold his things while he opened the door and said his goodbyes to Lexie. It broke my heart to see the two of them...him a bit teary, and she full of canine kisses. I know he's coming back in what will seem like the blink of an eye, but there is no way for me to let her know that by summer her companion will be back at the other end of her leash. They say dogs live in the moment and I am sure to some degree that is true, but I also know that for a little while, Lexie will wonder where her friend has gone, probably sleep on his bed, and wonder why she's not getting as many biscuits as she thinks she deserves...
She will bounce back though, for our dogs are nothing if not resilient creatures, and I can already see her tail wagging frantically as we pull up curbside next summer to pick up her favorite two legged best friend.
