We lost Sophie just over a year ago. Honestly I’ve never experienced grief like that before in my life. I’d lost relatives and several friends (none that were close), but nothing had ever affected me like the loss of my best friend. She may have been just a dog (a Shitzu to be precise) and she may have only weighed eight pounds, but losing her stopped me dead in my tracks. I still can’t look at pictures of her without getting emotional. In many ways animals are superior to humans. They’re innocent and pure and good. Sophie epitomized all of those things, but she was also one of the most selfish creatures I’ve ever encountered. Everything was always all about her, and for some reason I found it endearing and amusing.
Sometimes I feel like I exist within my own head, so it’s hard to genuinely connect with other people. Animals cut through this barrier. It’s like they’re able to bypass your brain and imprint directly on your soul. They love you completely despite all of your flaws. It’s almost not even fair. And you’re their whole world so the relationship is purely authentic. My wife and I have always loved animals and we’ve had many different pets over our thirty years together; dogs, cats, lizards, fish, hermit crabs, hamsters, and even a desert tortoise. Unlike most other creatures, dogs and cats tend to pick a person. Sure, they’re loving to everyone in the family, but there’s inevitably one person who becomes theirs. Over the years just about every dog and cat we’ve ever owned has picked my wife to be their person. It makes total sense. In our home she’s the sun and we all exist in her orbit. For whatever reason, Sophie was the first dog or cat to choose me. Perhaps her selfish nature made her my spirit animal 🙂 Regardless whenever I got home she was the first one to greet me with excitement and kisses. She followed me everywhere I went and would snuggle down right next to me wherever I sat. She slept next to me every night in our bed. And every morning during our walk, I couldn’t help but smile at how particular she was sniffing everything in sight until she found just the perfect spot to do her business. After we lost her, I was left with a Sophie sized whole in my heart.
The only saving grace was that we still had Sophie’s sister, a seven pound Maltese named Zoey, who was blind and deaf at that point and near the end of her life as well. I gave Zoey all of my love which helped a lot with the grief, but we lost her six months later, and my emotional wound was once again exposed. My wife could tell I was struggling and suggested we get a new pet to distract my sorrow. At first I was against the idea. We’d recently become empty nesters and the plan was to start traveling the world. Anyone who’s owned pets knows they’re not very conducive to world travel. I eventually relented and we adopted a one year old feral cat we named Harper, who is an absolute angel. But guess who she picked? Yup – Harper is my wife’s cat through and through.
Two months after we adopted Harper, my wife’s esthetician was looking for a home for a six month old kitten. He was living with two asthmatic children and his fur was causing breathing problems, so they had to give him up. My first thought was no way, we just adopted a cat that will need to be farmed out whenever we travel. Two cats would make it that much more difficult and expensive. My wife usually knows what I need even when I don’t, so she over-ruled me and we adopted a second cat we named Logan. And guess what? Lighting struck twice and Logan chose me! He’s the first one to greet me when I get home with excited meows and kisses. He follows me everywhere I go and snuggles down right next to me wherever I sit. He sleeps next to me every night in our bed. And he sits next to me in his stroller whenever I work outside which is often (see picture at top of post). Like Sophie, he’s also extremely selfish so I guess I found my second spirit animal 🙂
Sophie can never be replaced, but Logan has filled a void and greatly improved the quality of my life. I suppose the lesson here is that the universe will give you what you need if you’re open to it… and you should always listen to your wife 🙂 I went from being the fruity dog guy to being the fruity cat guy, and I’m totally okay with it. Gotta own your shit, right? Animals enrich our lives and are truly a blessing.
JQ Rising 