I think everyone who has lost a spouse can look back and point to one thing that kept them going during the darkest times. For many it is their children, for some it is their work, for Nancy and I it was our pets. We both believed that no one would be able to love them as they were accustomed. So for both of us, in our darkest times it was their companionship that raised our spirits and their needs that got us out of bed in the morning.
Specifically for Nancy it was Job, her faithful companion for nearly sixteen years. I was blessed to have Job in my life for a short while and he was already an old dog when I came to know him. I never got to see the exuberant, playful dog with whom Nancy got to spend so many years. What I did get to witness is a bond between a person and a dog that few get to experience. Often I would catch one of them gazing at the other with the loving look of someone who knew that the other had given them everything they had to give and both of their lives were so much better for the giving.
As I said, Job was old when I came into their lives and I began making secret pacts with him from the start. "OK, Jobbers, just hang in there until I can get up there to be with your mommy." "Alright, Job, stay with us until after the wedding." "Jobiwan, be a good boy and hang in there through the honeymoon." "OK, Jobbersan, I want to see you when I get back from Portland, you can't leave your mommy while I'm gone." Each time he kept his promise - not that I ever got any recognition of my requests, just a look I read as, "Sure, whatever." When I got back from Portland, I knew that the time for pacts was past. It was time to make him as comfortable as possible and make the most of our final few days with him.
So today, I say thank you. Thank you for welcoming me into your home. Thank you for not leaving your mommy when I wasn't there to help her through it. And thank you most of all for being the "best doggy ever" and always being there when the woman I love needed you. Jobbers, my life is better for having known you, I owe you more than I could ever repay, and I will miss you more than I can say.
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