I've just finished reading a book called
Marley and Me by John Grogan. It was so touching, I laughed and cried throughout the whole thing. Marley is a mischievous Lab with the canine equivalent of ADD, but despite all his antics, his loyalty and love to his family carries them through thick and thin.
Our life since we adopted Luca hasn't been the same. Yes, we could pretend like he doesn't really have an effect on us, but the truth is that he has made a huge impact in our home, our relationship, and our lives. Whilst in the first few months we threatened to take him back to the animal shelter as he continually destroys everything he wasn't meant to, we knew deep down inside that the only way he was going to leave us is when he dies.
It's hard to describe the feeling we get when we come home to find him whining and wagging his whole body, so excited to see us that he lashes himself with his out-of-control tail. Or when he gives us the pleading look and pretends to shiver from the cold, so he can come inside when it's not even that cold. Having a dog is not like owning a goldfish, it's more like having a toddler. Clumsy beings with bursts of excitement that could send them on a high-speed playchase. The way Luca's eyes glaze over when we touch him, it's glaringly unconditional love, it's like we are his whole world. It's so addictive.
I'd heard of a girl who was tormented by her parents and felt like she was a social outcast. She only had one friend, her dog. One day, she took her dog for the usual walk, came home and killed it before killing herself. I always wondered what her rationale was. I mean, some people would say she was crazy, and they might or might not be right. But how could she bring herself to kill the only being that she believes has ever loved her. I wonder if it was to spare the dog for whatever misfortune she imagines it to endure after her passing. Or maybe she can't bear the thought of possibly being alone in the afterlife. Or maybe she was practising-if she could do it to her dog, surely she would go through and do it to herself.
Anyway, in most instances we will outlive our beloved pets, and I am haunted by the words of a reader that wrote to Grogan, that in the short life of a dog, he spends most of it sitting by the door waiting for you to come home...
