Furry Friends and Cold Noses
I live with two senior cats and an elderly dog. I don’t know about you; I am close to my furry friends. Not that connection that is all lovey-dovey or for display, but a deep connection. I gaze into their eyes and feel they want to talk to me. I want to talk to them too.
I don’t know how to describe it. More than loyalty or devotion. It’s so much more. Imagine it as souls connected like conjoined twins, separate beings, but one. Their eyes are as dark as mine, and the longing for communication is as deep.
It must have been one of those crazy days. I’ve been having a lot of them lately — too many. I heard my shaggy friend saying, “I miss you when you aren’t here.”
I kiss his soft face and whisper, “I know. Me too.” But he didn’t respond. My hope is more potent than his.
My heartaches because none of them, Daisy, Darla, or Duke, can converse with me. I want to know about their day and if they enjoy sleeping in my bed when I am away. I am sure they would have so much to say if we could only talk with each other.
Day in and day out, I see that Daisy, Darla, and Duke are well. Everyone is living their best life — full bellies and playtime, almost like I didn’t leave them behind with broken hearts. I miss them when I can’t play with them.
One day I was looking at myself in the full-length bedroom mirror and realized I was alone. It wasn’t that they wouldn’t talk to me; they couldn’t.
“Dexter, I have missed you so much” Daisy gave me kitty kisses on my cold nose.
I barked and pranced with joy as I did many years ago. I am no longer alone; as time passes, Darla, Duke, and Darren will be with Daisy and me running and playing in these beautiful fields of eternity.
No one can ever take away my love for them — my precious pets. I have the same unconditional love for them as they do for me. My heartache swelled when Daisy lay lifeless in my arms, and the emptiness from Dexter’s death had grown deeper. Yes, Darla, Duke, and I will feel alone without them, yet we know our broken hearts will mend. At the end of the Rainbow Bridge, we will all be together again. We will be pain-free and filled with new youth. I will kiss their cold noses and watch them frolic carefree among the heavenly wildflowers. Until then, I will continue loving them and look forward to being reunited in the new chapter of our existence. I gaze in the mirror at the old man I have become — alone in the reflection, yet never alone.
The End
Maryann Lindquist & Mojha MacDowell
1/26/23
