I have heard the expression that cats have nine lives. I think my dog may truly have nine lives. She was a rescue dog, and she survived a possible puppy mill and the streets. When she came to our family, she taught me a lot about love. She is about sixteen years old now, which is old for a dog. Yet she just keeps going.
She has had two liver infections and both times I thought we were going to lose her, but she just recovered after a few days. She has had terrible ear infections that I didn’t think she would recover from, but she did. She has a tumor on her chest that has grown and opened up, but she just keeps going. We treat the open wound, it closes up, and she is fine. A few weeks later it gets bad again, we treat it again, and she is fine. I know we have the option of putting her out of her misery, but my problem is she doesn’t seem to be in misery.
For all the difficulties, challenges, and pain that she must be in, she doesn’t act like it bothers her very much at all. When it is time to go outside, she gets up and goes outside. When she curls up to go to sleep, she looks like she is peacefully sleeping and happy. And when it is time to eat, she is totally focused on food and will literally gallop to her food bowl ready to eat any food that we set in front of her. Maybe she does have nine lives. Maybe her time just hasn’t come yet. I don’t know, but I believe that she isn’t done teaching me about love and life.
When my parents were in their sixties, both of them retired and then until they died several years later, their main activity was sitting around their house waiting to die. They didn’t do anything, except for maybe going to get groceries or going to the doctor. I never could understand why anyone would retire and then just wait around to die. I don’t want my life to end that way. My dog has shown me that it doesn’t matter how old I get or what happens to my body in old age, I should continue to live life with the same enthusiasm and gratitude that I have today.
My dog has started to lose muscle in her back legs. She can’t stand very well on them. When she eats, her back legs start to slide out from under her. Yet that doesn’t keep her from being excited about eating. In fact, she doesn’t even notice that she is having trouble standing up. She is just happy to enjoy her food. She has that big tumor on her chest. I can guess it is painful, but she doesn’t let it keep her from enjoying her life.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we were all that way? Maybe when I am old, I may not be able to walk as fast as I can now. I won’t let it keep me from enjoying my life. Maybe my body will feel more pain than I do today. Pain is just my body’s way of communicating with me; it doesn’t have to be something that keeps me from living my life. If it did, I would be in trouble right now. I have headache pain and nerve pain all the time, but I still enjoy life. I am still grateful for what God has given me. Life doesn’t have to always be happy and pain free to be enjoyed. We can all gallop up to our food bowls wagging our tails even when we are old and need a walker to get there.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
