Penny did her business quickly & as we started heading back home, she led me on a detour. Okay, so it was just a quick little jaunt to another yard, right? What could it hurt to let her mark another patch of grass? Normally, she follows my lead & heads on home in the direction I lead her in. Not this time.
As she finished her business again & we headed for home, instead of turning right to go back home, she looked at me with a confident smile, paused & plunged straight ahead toward the other grassy area where I take her at night when I want to feel safe from coyotes. "Okay", I told her, "we'll go this way, but just for a minute". I really wasn't in the mood to take her on a long walk.
So....I let Penny have her way, even though I very much wanted to go back home.
To my delight, my normally very loud-mouthed little girl did not bark at a single soul. Ah, life was good...
We finished walking in that grassy area & once again, I tried to head for home. Once again, instead of turning right to go home, Penny turned her head back to look at me & she gave me that confident smile that said "we're going to go this way" & then we forged straight ahead -- again. "What the heck, Penny?" I wondered, as I just allowed my family's little 12-pound dog to manipulate me into doing something I didn't want to do. She had already done her business after all, & I had stuff to do. But once again, she warmed my heart & persuaded me with her smile.
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| Photo: Cari Kissel Maggie on her walk |
So we walked some more & before I knew it, Penny was taking me on the very path that Maggie used to like to walk. We continued walking until we got to the place where Maggie sat, just over a year ago, & like Maggie, Penny's ears were carried upward with the breeze. The thing that struck me is that Penny plopped herself down in the very same patch of grass where Maggie sat, on the last day of her life. How odd was that?!
As I pondered the coincidence with amazement, I remembered how a couple nights before, I had a dream about Maggie. Maggie was staring at me in my dream & she was not looking at me very lovingly. She appeared upset with me. The dream felt very real. When I woke from that dream however, I realized it was not Maggie coming to me in my dream, but merely an over-distraught subconscious mind feeling a bit guilty over the fact that after a year since Maggie's death, I can smile at her memory instead of feeling sad. I will never forget Maggie & will love her forever, but I am no longer living in that place of grief. Penny has brought me back my joy.
I believe that's what my dream was about. Still, it bothered me. My Maggie would never have looked at me in the way she did in my dream. Maggie was unconditionally loving & she was truly the sweetest dog I have ever been blessed to love (among many truly wonderful & loving dogs). Maggie was Maggie Waggy! Why, her whole body smiled! When she walked, her tail constantly wagged, even when cancer was ravaging her body, making the very act of walking difficult. Maggie loved me & she would never be mad at me for finding joy again. She knew I loved her & still do. She would want me to be happy. She would approve of Penny. Penny can be a stinker, just like Maggie could be.
When I had awakened from my dream, I asked God to let me know that Maggie is okay, that she is with Him & is happy. I then bent down & kissed the little box on my dresser that contains her ashes & the little clay footprint & snippet of her fur that the pet mortuary gave to us. I told Maggie I loved her & always will. Then I went about my day.
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| Photo: Cari Kissel Our sweet Ella |
That's when Penny did her thing....walking where Maggie walked, sniffing the grass in the same manner that Maggie used to do, giving me that same stubborn yet confident smile that said to me "we're going THIS way Mama" & then plopping herself down in the exact same patch of grass where Maggie sat on that last day of her life. By the time I got home that night (2 nights ago as of this writing), I realized that God had answered my prayer in a way so wonderful & comforting, that all I could do was to smile. Maggie's okay. She exists in Heaven, yet a part of her still lives on with us, & is whispering in Penny's ear "do THIS....it will make Mama smile". Man oh man, I surely do love & miss Maggie....& I love Penny too. I'm so thankful for the blessing of knowing how great God's love is for our family, to bring our cat Ella first, then Maggie & now Penny into our lives. For those who view pets as property, you have my sympathies. They are family. And they are one of the biggest blessings that people can have in their lives.
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| Photo: Cari Kissel Our silly Penny |
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