The View from Here

Marley won’t go up to bed until she is absolutely sure that I am joining her, and she always stops mid way to be sure that I’m still right behind her. As I and my sweet girl headed up tonight, I smiled at the wonderfully comforting nightly routine, memories of other precious dogs who walked these same stairs before Marley swirling through my heart.

First there was Guinness and Murphy, then Bailey, Cooper, and Sophie, each one of them taking a piece of my heart when they left us. But, aren’t dogs amazing creatures? In their far-too-short lifetimes, each and every dog brings immeasurable quality to our existence: endless unconditional love, companionship, laughter, joy, along with lots and lots of fur therapy and a built-in Hoover vacuum cleaner for those edible messes. Every dog is different, bringing their own lessons in love to us, always changing our lives for the better in ways both small and large. I am grateful for the gift of dogs in my life and I am humbled by their pure and beautiful souls.

As my mind will do, I wandered and wondered with each ascending step; alongside my crew, how many other dogs have faithfully trotted ahead of their humans up these same stairs over the years in our 101 year old home? I love the idea of all those canine spirits watching over this place and it’s inhabitants with their gentle, loving hearts. I can feel them, I can feel their jubilant energy and hear the echoes of jingling tags from days long since past- and it is pure Heaven.