Ten Years
November 11th, 2008
Filed in: Uncategorized
Today would have been Zeke’s 10th birthday. On Thursday it’ll be a month since we lost him.
I’ve been comforted by so many of you … many thanks for the cards and e-mails. I’m lucky because I’m surrounded by people who truly understand the impact of losing a dog. It helps.
My nieces sent me handmade condolence cards that both touched me and cracked me up. Payton’s card features a lab-like Zeke in downpour. The sun is peeking from behind a cloud, and the inscription says, “Happy Days Zeke.”
I like it … it can be interpreted in a number of ways. I choose to focus on that sliver of sun.
Caroline’s card is dark and funny and creepy all at the same time.
It shows a dead dog (tongue lolling) next to a tombstone that says “Dog.” I’m a few steps away, crying and gesturing towards said dog. There’s a thought bubble above my head with a milkshake and a smiley face in it, and the word “frappe” above it. When asked to describe what the card means, Caroline said that I’m crying because Zeke is dead, but I’ll feel happier if I think of getting a frappe (a milkshake) in Nantucket. (Our evening walks into town to get a frappe are a vacation ritual that must resonate with her more than I’d realized. Caroline is six and she already understands the healing power of ice cream.)
We still miss our little man so, so much. But it’s strange … Sum has “inherited” some of Zeke’s habits, as if Zeke is channeling through him. Sumner is now doing the Zeke dance when he’s happy, which is a Lipizzaner-like lifting of his paws over and over again. He never used to do that, and it makes me smile every time I see it.
