The Journey by
Crystal Ward Kent
When you bring a pet into your
life, you begin a journey - a journey that will bring you more love
and devotion than you have ever known, yet also test your strength
and courage
If you allow, the journey will
teach you many things, about life, about yourself, and most of all,
about love. You will come away changed forever, for one soul cannot
touch another without leaving its mark.
Along the way, you will learn much
about savoring life's simple pleasures - jumping in leaves, snoozing
in the sun, the joys of puddles, and even the satisfaction of a good
scratch behind the ears.
If you spend much time outside, you
will be taught how to truly experience every element, for no rock,
leaf, or log will go unexamined, no rustling bush will be
overlooked, and even the very air will be inhaled, pondered, and
noted as being full of valuable information. Your pace may be slower
- except when heading home to the food dish - but you will become a
better naturalist, having been taught by an expert in the field.
Too many times we hike on automatic
pilot, our goal being to complete the trail rather than enjoy the
journey. We miss the details - the colorful mushrooms on the rotting
log, the honeycomb in the old maple snag, the hawk feather caught on
a twig. Once we walk as a dog does, we discover a whole new world.
We stop; we browse the landscape, we kick over leaves, peek in tree
holes, look up, down, all around. And we learn what any dog knows:
that nature has created a marvelously complex world that is full of
surprises, that each cycle of the seasons bring ever changing
wonders, each day an essence all its own.
Even from indoors you will find
yourself more attuned to the world around you. You will find
yourself watching summer insects collecting on a screen. (How
bizarre they are! How many kinds there are!), or noting the flick
and flash of fireflies through the dark. You will stop to observe
the swirling dance of windblown leaves, or sniff the air after a
rain. It does not matter that there is no objective in this; the
point is in the doing, in not letting life's most important details
slip by.
You will find yourself doing silly
things that your pet-less friends might not understand: spending
thirty minutes in the grocery aisle looking for the cat food brand
your feline must have, buying dog birthday treats, or driving around
the block an extra time because your pet enjoys the ride. You will
roll in the snow, wrestle with chewie toys, bounce little rubber
balls till your eyes cross, and even run around the house trailing
your bathrobe tie - with a cat in hot pursuit - all in the name of
love.
Your house will become muddier and
hairier. You will wear less dark clothing and buy more lint rollers.
You may find dog biscuits in your pocket or purse, and feel the need
to explain that an old plastic shopping bag adorns your living room
rug because your cat loves the crinkly sound.
You will learn the true measure of
love - the steadfast, undying kind that says, "It doesn't
matter where we are or what we do, or how life treats us as long as
we are together." Respect this always. It is the most precious
gift any living soul can give another. You will not find it often
among the human race.
And you will learn humility. The
look in my dog's eyes often made me feel ashamed. Such joy and love
at my presence. She saw not some flawed human who could be cross and
stubborn, moody or rude, but only her wonderful companion. Or maybe
she saw those things and dismissed them as mere human foibles, not
worth considering, and so chose to love me anyway.
If you pay attention and learn
well, when the journey is done, you will be not just a better
person, but the person your pet always knew you to be - the one they
were proud to call beloved friend.
I must caution you that this
journey is not without pain. Like all paths of true love, the pain
is part of loving. For as surely as the sun sets, one day your dear
animal companion will follow a trail you cannot yet go down. And you
will have to find the strength and love to let them go. A pet's time
on earth is far too short - especially for those that love them. We
borrow them, really, just for awhile, and during these brief years
they are generous enough to give us all their love, every inch of
their spirit and heart, until one day there is nothing left.
The cat that only yesterday was a
kitten is all too soon old and frail and sleeping in the sun. The
young pup of boundless energy wakes up stiff and lame, the muzzle
now gray. Deep down we somehow always knew that this journey would
end. We knew that if we gave our hearts they would be broken. But
give them we must for it is all they ask in return. When the time
comes, and the road curves ahead to a place we cannot see, we give
one final gift and let them run on ahead - young and whole once
more. "Godspeed, good friend," we say, until our journey
comes full circle and our paths cross again.