Sunday, March 1, 2009

Old Girl (Day Fortynine, Paragraphs 44, 45 & 46)


Guilty is how I feel most days and annoyed is how I feel most of the other days and nostaligic probably rounds out the group. My old girl Maggie and me have been through so much together. Relationships (good, bad, short, long). Moving (often). Single party girl (whoo hoo). Marriage (still holding!). The "second dog" experiment (failure!). Children (well, child anyway). Always content to be where ever I set her bed down but always a bit of a needler. She was a terror as a puppy but mellowed out as she got older - to the point where I took her to the vet when she was three because I was concerned that she was sick; the vet said, no - she was just three.

She turned 13 this past Valentine's Day. Her black coat is flecked with white. She has a mask of grey around her eyes. Her fatty tumor sways to and fro like a breast augmentation gone awry. She is underfoot when you don't want her around and absent when you wouldn't mind seeing her. She stops on the stairs for a big morning stretch as I'm racing down to get to work. She sheds like crazy. She has weird lumps all over her body. She smells. She won't let me trim her nails. She does not cuddle. She behaves like a cat - affection and attention are on her terms only. Her aloofness has increased a thousand-fold in the last few years to the point that I barely am permitted to pet her.

But she is still my dog. She is still my responsibility. She is still my first dog - ever. I will always remember her as a tiny pup with gigantic ears that didn't grow - they are still the same size now as they were when she was bitty. I know she isn't gone but she isn't the same dog now as she was even a few years ago so when I think of her it is with nostalgia. Maggie will always hold a special place in my heart. My first dog. I will always love her.
Photo credit: tedmurphy on Flickr

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Oh. This makes me sad. But it's a great post.