Those of us who have special someones know how valuable they are in enhancing our every day lives. No, I am not talking about girlfriends, boyfriends, lovers, etc. I mean your truly significant other- your pet! For us, it is our yellow lab who is an old girl with tons of personality. It is our Sadie! Often we reflect on the significance of our loving pet after they have gone, but I thought our Sadie deserved some accolades while she is still with us.
Sadie came to us through the great effort of my husband who saw a listing on Craig’s List. It was for a yellow Labrador female puppy whose owners were at Camp Lejeune and could no longer keep her. We had just lost our two year old lab to Lyme Disease resulting in total kidney failure. Her name was Summer, The puppy in the listing was named Summer…..Need I say more.
As with most pets, Sadie (we gave her a new name) has been so much more to my husband and me than just a dog. She is a companion, a friend, a defender, a therapy pet, a guide dog and a partner in crime. Sadie loves to swim, run on the beach, explore the neighborhood (mainly by sniffing everything), and especially she loves to watch the “fishies and crabbies” in the water off our dock. She has also been known to hunt for lizards, frogs and butterflies….not to catch or harm them, but simply to find them and treasure them…..
Like the rest of us, Sadie is aging. She takes a long time to walk from our dock to the house (so do I), she limps (so do I) and she goes to bed early (so do I). My husband and I want to believe that she has lots and lots of doggie time left and we will get to spend many more moments together finding the fishies and chasing the butterflies.
Don’t forget to give “your Sadie” a hug today.
