As we entered into autumn the memory of my three bums on the deck attentively watching something that I was blind to me resurfaces without my effort. I often reminisce about simpler times and look to the past for comfort.
However, when I truly think of the past it was filled with its own obstacles and although difficult in the moment, it now seems like an easier time since I have overcome those past challenges. Seventeen years of a life with a companion who was always by my side. One who was completely attuned to my needs and had a keen sense of when I truly needed that comforting. I think of those "easier" times being under the cottage lying in the dirt with the house less than a foot from my body as I worked on insulating the place for the winter. I look back with a smile as I remember my fear of being crushed by the house held up with rotting posts and the dangling spiders centimetres from my face. And, there he sat, right next to me while I worked so that I would not be alone.
Argus my wanderer often follows me and Mino on walks but I remember the time I broke my foot and this was the only time Pig followed alongside during our walk. It's almost as though he was making sure I was okay, much like his silent presence with me while I insulated our home. I'm comforted in knowing that I was there for him in his final moments. My arms around him, as he took his last breaths and my warm loving gaze, was the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes years ago and the last thing he saw as he left his body.
2000-2017