February 12, 2011

Alex

My little dog - a heartbeat at my feet.  ~Edith Wharton
I never knew that I could love an animal as much as I do until my little Alex entered my life almost 6 years ago. 


I adopted Alex from the Humane Society after I went through a divorce and started living by myself. I wanted companionship and I missed my dogs dearly (my ex-husband kept them) so I figured I would save a little life while I was putting mine back together. We both needed someone to love and we both needed a new road to travel down together...obviously the paths we both had chosen before didn't work out too well for either one of us. 


I will never be able to fully express what this little dog has done for my soul and I will never be able to repay him for all of the happiness he has brought into my life. He is like my own personal ray of sunshine. I could be having a horrible day or just plain sick and curling up with him in bed can make me feel 10x better. If I am upset or sad this little furball knows it and tries to comfort me. I truly believe there are days that the only person that gets me is Alex. He is even my "security blanket" because he sleeps curled up next to me and if he's not there then I can't sleep. 


Alex was 6 when I adopted him so he's about 12 years old now. His once golden yellow fur is turning white; most of his face is now white. He has arthritis and doesn't do well when we have cold and rainy weather. He stays balled up next to me most days to keep warm. He has had several teeth pulled because they were bad and recently has had a few more that could use pulling. However, he is still spunky and full of energy when he wants to be.


Lately I have thought a lot about the fact that he is getting older and he won't always be by my side. It upsets me to even think about it but I do know it's part of life....we live and we die. I just wish that term didn't apply to Alex, if I could, I would keep him with me forever. 


Who knew the day I adopted him that I was really helping myself more than I was helping him.....I am one lucky girl and he's one lucky dog!

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