Life Lessons from a Dog: Keep on Fetching

We had to put Shadow down today, just five days shy of her 16th birthday. 

I took her home sixteen years ago from a friend's house, late at night, her warm kitten's body snuggled inside my coat.  She was my faithful companion since: curled up and purring on my lap while I read, keeping my feet warm while I slept. 

Walking outside this morning after dropping Shadow off at the vet's (I didn't stay to watch because Clare was with me), I said to Molly, "What to do, Molly, what to do?" 

With a ball in her mouth, she effectively said, "Just keep on fetching."

Which is so true.  Molly knows that life lesson well.  Through eating rat poison, to breaking her tail, to recovering from stomach surgery, Molly has never once not wanted to fetch.  That is her main purpose in life and she's determined to keep at it.  Who would have thought a dog would be so good at reminding me to keep enjoying life and the sweet memories of the kitty who shared so many years of it. 

Since writing is how I deal with things, I thought I'd write a post about this, for closure.  That way I don't have to tell any of you in person, which would be too hard, and blog posts don't get smeary with shed tears or choked up with emotion.