The last few days have been extraordinarily odd for me.
I miss my dog Dasher, who passed away on Tuesday.
But, it is not just that.
On my 2nd birthday I got a dog, her name was Raffles. Since then there has always been a dog in my life. Next month I turn 42, so that is just under 40 years of always having a dog. It is all I have ever known. We briefly had Barney when I was younger. Then, my father got Yogie. At one point my brother had Brutus. When I was away at college the dog was thee when I came home. After Yogie we did not get another family dog but I was engaged to a woman with a dog named Babie, who came to live with me upon getting married. A few years later we got Dasher, adopted my mother in law's dog Spike upon her going into a nursing home, and briefly had Jack. Dasher stayed with me when I got divorced. There has always been a dog there. There has always been overlapping dog era without a gap.
The past couple mornings have been hard. My daughter's cat Tiger lives with me and he has been behaving like he knows something is wrong and missing.
I appreciate all of the kind words and messages in various formats that have been sent by friends and family. The little dog had charisma.
At this time I cannot get another dog, although most likely I will again some day. For now, it is simply a gap I am dealing with.
