I return to this blog again and again. Sometimes for bedtime
reading and sometimes just to feel inspired and read other’s stories.
I find writing about a moment of gratitude difficult. I have
returned to a blank document many, many times, writing and erasing, trying to
find the most significant moment or person that I have a tremendous amount of
gratitude for.
And that’s it, I start, and I erase, and exit and try again
a couple of weeks later, only to repeat the cycle. Not because I am not
grateful, but because I have been so blessed throughout my life that I can’t
choose person, place or thing, to write about that will make this post short,
sweet and easy to read.
I have finally chosen to write about one thing in my life
that taught me about unconditional love.
Now my family isn’t the type that will tell each other how
much we love each other day in and day out. Its extremely rare to hear an ‘I
love you,’ unless its from my mom, and affection for each other is a rare
thing. Therefore, you know that when it happens its truly special.
That’s where my dog comes into the picture. My dad brought a
German Shorthair Pointer puppy home when I was about 8 years old. We named him
Spencer. He brought the dog home against my mom’s wishes, but this dog was one
of the greatest blessings our family would ever receive because he taught us
all how to love unconditionally.
A quick interruption to the story, but important!; Have you
ever heard that story of a child’s explanation for why dog’s lives are so much
shorter than a human’s? Its simple; our job on earth is to figure out how to
love others unconditionally, provide forgiveness, and not judge others, no
matter their faults, appearance, skin colour, age, etc.. Dog’s lives are so
short, because they learn and express this concept of unconditional love much
quicker than humans ever do.
Anyways, back to the story. Growing up my brothers and I would
spend hours with my dog. Taking him out in the forest while we rode our bikes,
playing in our yard, etc..
When I would feel sad
or upset, I would lay on him, and soak him with my tears. His ears slumped, but
he never walked away. Guilt was also easy to see on him; he told us he did
something wrong with his expression before we ever found out what it was. He
never failed to greet us when we got home with excitement and joy in his eyes
and tail. When my brothers and I would fight he would bark, jump on us, or just
hide in his nook, looking on with low ears and sadness in his eyes.
‘I love you’s’ and hugs and kisses started to be very common
in the house – aimed at the dog, but nonetheless. I began to see how Spencer
brought out these emotions that my family was so guarded in expressing.
He stuck by my side, and was part of very significant
moments in my life; like when him and I were the only one’s home when I got
accepted to Brock; lets just say we celebrated! He was easily a member of our
family and part of everything! His chore was to retrieve the newspaper at the
end of our driveway every morning, something he excitedly did.
During my second year of university he passed away from bone
cancer. I was away from home and more devastated about his death than I had
been about death ever before. Silly, right, because he was a dog.
He was a dog, but he was perfect; he had not hate or
disregard in his heart, he did not judge, he forgot and forgave quickly, he
made new friends easily, he was very rarely anything but excited and happy, he
loved it when he has someone to talk to him, and he expressed more
unconditional love than I had ever experienced before.
He was a 12-year lesson in my life I will never forget and
his message was simple; love others unconditionally and express gratitude for
the simple things; like for warm sun spots on the carpet, the morning paper,
and your family coming home at the end of a long day.
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