A couple of weeks ago we had to say goodbye to our family dog, Xerox. It was unexpectedly difficult to do and I find tears in my eyes as I write this.
Today I won’t tell you the story of how he was named. I won’t tell you about how he loved our home theater as much as we did, how he tolerated the cats, and how he loved to dash after the squirrels in the back yard. I won’t detail his last year, aging, arthritic, and diabetic.
What I will tell you is this: Xerox was a part of our family. He was there as my daughters grew up and his love for them was clear and without question. He wanted nothing but to be with us, around us, near us. That made him happy beyond measure. From the moment we brought him home from the shelter until the veterinarian came to our home to put him peacefully to sleep he was the best of companions.
We were lucky that he was a part of our lives and the pain I feel now is a measure of that. His passing comes at a time of many changes and I recognize that, too. My youngest daughter is leaving for college soon, my oldest is finishing grad school and moving on in her life. But I don’t think too much about that now. The cats know something is different, something is strange. I think that they miss him, too.
I work at home, don’t leave the house that much during the day and I miss him. Over these past two years when I’ve worked at home he has always been here with me, never far away. I like to think that meant something to him and I hope that his suffering wasn’t too much over this last year.
I miss you, buddy.
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