R.I.P., Barkley, Magnificent Beast.

I'm sad to report that this week my friend Brigid has lost her beloved Barkley.

I heard the news earlier in the week, and I mulled the enormity for Brigid, and thought of my own experience and grief at having to make the tough choice to let an aged pet and friend go, and the horrid thought of future such things.  I wept the whole while I was reading Brigid's lovely tribute in the link above.  Barkley is so woven intrinsically into the warp and weft of Brigid's writing that I know we who find her inspiring will always see his threads in her whole cloth. 

There are those who say we anthropomorphize dogs, and I know I'm guilty to an extent, but I don't think that's entirely accurate. I think dogs make us better than we are. They bring a frank joy and enthusiasm to everything that flies in the face of cynicism and ill humor.

I always say that one of the best traits of a dog is how simple are their pleasures, and how they don't complicate a day with the kind of meanness with which people so clutter up and sully their days. They don't waste time worrying about mortality, taxes, or sub-par kibble. Their unquenchable exuberance is inspiring, indeed.

So today, Brigid, and in the coming days as you try to form the grief of Barkley's loss into a manageable mass, I hope you are blessed and greatly comforted by fond memories of his true essence and of his joy you shared with myself and countless others. You gave him a wonderful life, and he was so happy to do the same for you. Wouldn't have wanted it any other way, I'll bet. xoxo