Tonight I am grateful for the gift of companionship. I rushed into my house this evening preoccupied because I was running a little late and wanted to be ready for the “trick or treaters” whom I had worried would be ready to descend upon my house the moment the clock struck 6 p.m. Nevermind that I got home at 6:10 and was already under the gun a bit. When I arrived home, my friend was there waiting, as she always: happy and eager to greet me. Some days I greet her back, smiling and laughing, touching her affectionately, apologizing for getting home late. Other days I am tired from the commute, a little testy and generally grumbly and unwelcoming. She doesn’t appear fazed by this, her natural enthusiasm isn’t at all dampened by my lack of interest. She never fails to be cheerful. Sometimes I think I don’t deserve her, but then I realize that we are god’s gift to each other and I am simply grateful.
I was worried about the impact that moving across the country would have on my friend–she’d never been out of California. How would she handle being uprooted and brought to an entirely alien part of the country? How would she settle in to a completely different place–unfamiliar sights, sounds, smells? What would she think about winter, for goodness sake? That one we’ll be tackling sooner rather than later. It seems that no matter what I’ve thrown at her, she takes it all with amazing grace and enviable resilience. If only she were human, she’d be just about perfect.
I am talking about my four-legged friend Honor. She hasn’t had a lot of choices in her young life (I don’t know exactly how old she is, when we got her from the animal rescue foundation they guessed she was about 14 months old) We picked her out and brought her home nearly six years ago and she’s been my sidekick ever since. She’s seen me through the traumas of 2011 and has now embarked with me on this journey to my “what’s next.” My what’s nexts have always been hers as well. Where I go she goes; what happens to me one way or another directly affects what happens to her. Out here in this brave new world she is my companion, my closest connection to another living being. If I had feared feeling lonely and bereft of company when I moved here, I needn’t have worried. Honor has been here for me. Granted she’s not much of a conversationalist; but she’s good company nonetheless and is easygoing, simple to please, and never complains about anything.
Honor Rides Shotgun Across Ohio
I worry about her a little bit–she spends many, many hours a day by herself while I’m at work. I worry that she gets lonely or bored. At one point I thought about getting her a pet, but that seemed silly as then I would have another mouth to feed and another creature I’d have to leave for 10 hours. Still, I haven’t totally ruled out the idea.
I’m grateful for Honor. She’s sweet, kind, comical, energetic, forgiving, loving and many many good things. While I can’t say I’d be lost without her, I can say that my life is made richer for having her around and I won’t feel completely alone or lonely with her around. I want to create a little more space in my schedule to take her to find a nice park to hang out in. It might not be as cool as Chavez Park, tucked as it was up against the San Francisco Bay and located a brief 15 minutes away, but I bet I can find one that comes close. I owe it to my friend to do just that.
