Thanksgiving

To say I have learned more about love from the dogs than from anyone, or anywhere else would be the gospel truth.

If that isn't cause for thanksgiving I don't know what is.  God created Dog and it was good.  I've been learning ever since I opened my heart to that first one.  A wee bit of fluff in the shape of a lab named Abby.  Then there was a dobe named Fancy, then Mickey.  Then the fosters began.  Then love found it's way from Reno to Omaha bringing with him a little springer girl named Maddie. 

It took a dog with a funky lip to teach me what handsome was.  I've always said Kobe was all I wanted in a man, well, except for the lip issue.  He was loyal, gentle, devoted, amusing, faithful and a prince.  He had scars, fractures and arthritis from life before gentle hands became the norm.  But it didn't change his sweet disposition.

Therein lies the key.  Life is not kind at times, this week bears that out.  We are bruised, fractured and hurting.  Yet, an old dog who knew pain and scars from barbed wire offers us a valuable lesson.  Love with all your Kobe heart.  Trust, believe, know that there are gentle hands to sustain you.  Be faithful, be loyal, worry not about funky lips.  You are perfect just the way you are. 

And while I struggle with these losses I am also graced with these truthes.  Without dogs I would be no where near the person I am today.  With dogs I am closer to being the best I can be.  They lead the way, and happily I follow.