I couldn’t give you an adequate representation of the number of animals that have lived with us in 30 years. Yes, I could do my best to list off the dogs and cats, but you need to add in the fish. Oh, the so many fish.
Pets require very little in the way of support to be in your life. You buy, find or are given them and go from there. Feed them, let them go to the bathroom and clean up. Simple.
During our 30 years we’ve learned so much about ourselves, but 2 truths have emerged. I’ve grown to not want pets, Missy has grown to embrace them.
I should have seen this coming earlier in our marriage when Missy was heartbroken after our sucker fish (plecostomus) became ill while we were on vacation. She tried so hard to keep it going, but it eventually died. (I cannot remember the name of our sucker fish, but I’d like to think it was Sally the Sucker.)
Her dedication to our dogs borders on mystical. In the last 10 years 2 of our dogs have passed and Missy knew both times when the time was coming. The connection is unknown to me, but it a product of the dedication Missy has with these animals.
Right now our dog is Scooter. A majestic, large golden retriever. As dogs go, he’s pretty cool. I like the fact he isn’t too hyper and dig the fact he sort of plays ball. He sometimes listens to me, though most of the time he just looks at me. For Missy, the dog is a robot.
Let’s compare:
“Scooter, come inside.” My result is a dog running to the door and running back into the yard. Her result is the dog coming inside.
“Scooter, drop it.” My result is a 30 second tug of war where he thinks if he loses the world is over. Her result is dropping the object with nary an objection.
“Scooter, eat.” My result when I put out food is obliviousness. The dog could care less. Her result is eating, but only if she is in the same room.
It seems odd to talk about this, but for every gram of dedication they give Missy she returns it 10 fold.
