Good Dog, Good: A Tribute to My Four-legged Friends
I read a passage in Dean Koontz's book, The Darkest Evening of the Year, that loving dogs is a 'penance for all the other illusions we allow ourselves and for the mistakes we made because of those illusion'. We take them in knowing that a dog's life is short. The inevitability of losing a friend would force us to share their joys and pains. Their death reminds us that whatever we do with our lives, we can only do it once. Death is not at all that bad because it humbles us. It reminds us to cherish those we love, including creatures who repay us with love and loyalty. My mother Rhoda has always been fond of dogs. We grew up with a proud half-breed spitz named Dogart. I remember when me and my mother took him home. He was in an open red plastic bag and everytime he crawled on my mother's lap at the back of the bus on our way home, I would giggle with delight. He was furry and ferocious even as a puppy. I remember he bit me once when he was having his dinner and I tr...
