The Signs of a Life Well Lived

I don't want to sound like I'm bragging and sometimes I think my rambling is completely ridiculous (because it is), but I just had to share my thoughts on an experience Deb and I went through last week.  Our pet of 15 years finally reached the point where it was irresponsible to let her go on with life.  She had severe dementia, she had no idea what was going on around her, and she could not see a lick.  To be completely honest, we were not too attached to her, she was a great pet and we loved and cared for her, but we were thinking that we could do this without all of the emotion that most people go through on these occasions... until we were there and it was really happening...

We went to pieces, we were sobbing like 4 year olds...

Later when I thought about it, I realized that it wasn't just about the dog.  We did love her and she will be missed, but there was something more to it.  Sadie shared in our legacy of a life well lived, a life we shared with her and our children and the people that surrounded us through those many years of child-rearing.  Sadie sat on laps at Christmas time, she slept in our kids beds, she chewed on things she shouldn't have and made accidents that really made us upset... really bad...  but she was a part of us.  A part of a family that believed in family, that created memories of doing things well and doing the right things.  There were a lot of mistakes, but it always was about family, about responsibility, about love.  When I watched her take her last sigh and as the life slowly drained from her, I realized how good our life has been.  I realized how fortunate I have been for God to place such incredible people in my life, to make it so rich and so treasured.  I realized how incredible it has been to spend 28 years sharing in the most intimate relationship with one person that can be had on this earth with my incredible wife Debbi.  I realized that our ability to remember that our children were on loan to us from God and had immeasurable worth; worth more than we could ever afford to pay, had made us think very hard about what was important when raising them. Through most of that period, Sadie was there.  She played a part, she had a role.  She was cute, she was fun, and more than that, she was there.

At that moment I realized that Sadie was another stitch in the tapestry of my life that has not been perfect, but when held up to the light, it has been good.  I am a fortunate man.