Saturday, October 31, 2009

Unconditional Love

In my twenties, my spending habits were out of control, especially when it came to shoes. I loved buying shoes that I couldn’t afford—truth is, I still like shoes I can’t afford. However, I’ve grown smarter with my finances and have learned to respect my hard-earned money a little more.
I remember the very first pair of Prada shoes I ever owned. They were gorgeous, black Italian leather sandals with these little buckles on the straps. I loved them, even though they killed my feet. I saved up to buy them one summer and was so proud when I was finally able to walk into Saks Fifth Avenue (the flagship store!) and walk out with my new lovers.

At the time, my dog Simon was about 2 yrs old and loved to chew things (you probably know where this is going).
He could chew through just about anything; the edge of doors, rugs, stuffed animals, couch pillows etc, etc. The one thing he didn’t like to chew were his rawhide bones.
He was such a jerk in his youth.

One fateful day, I forgot to put my new loved ones into their shoebox and when I came home from work, the heels were chewed off and those cute little buckles on the straps? They were lying on the floor, next to the bodies.
And the worst part?
The labels in the soles were barely recognizable!! He basically bit the hell out of the ‘sole’ of the shoes.
I yelled and screamed and cried and kept asking him, ‘Why?!’ over and over again. Seems utterly stupid now that I would be questioning a dog and his taste in Italian leather but at the time, I was so angry. I had barely worn them!

I sent Simon to his bed which I moved to the corner of the room and forbade him to move for the rest of the night. I wanted to put a dunce cap on him but I knew he would have just chewed that, too.
The following morning, still drunk from the wine I chose to soothe my aching, shoeless soul, I heard him panting at the foot of my bed.
I opened my eyes and saw him standing there, looking at me with those big, brown eyes, tail wagging, tongue firmly sticking out of the side of his mouth.
He did this every morning however, I was surprised that he bothered on that particular morning, knowing full-well what could be awaiting him; a cold shoulder. But he came to greet me anyway.
He had forgotten the events of the night before and so I had to as well. I couldn’t stay angry at him because he was just so forgiving.
That’s unconditional love for you. No matter what goes on in a relationship, you can always find it in your heart to forgive that person. In my case, a dog.

The other day, I had a scare. My Simon didn’t look so hot—he was in very bad shape. I thought for sure that the vet was going to tell me that Simon would have to be put to sleep. I was a mess and all I could think about was the time that he chewed my first pair of Prada shoes. I don’t know why.

He’s 15 yrs old now and has changed a lot this past year. He moves slower, he sleeps more--he’s getting old.
Very long story short, my dog is fine. It turns out he has something called Geriatric Vestibular Disease which is quite common in old dogs. It will pass with time and pretty soon, he’ll be back to his ‘old’ self again.

I know he’s not going to live forever so I’m going to try to enjoy every second I have left with him because really, that's all I can do.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

What a lovely post.

Memories that touch the heart are truly priceless. It makes us realise possessions are inconsequential to a happy life.

I have dogs too and have melted on many occasions when they've chewed on something the shouldn't have. Yet, even when I've been angry, they gaze up at me with so much love in their eyes I dissolve. What does it matter? It's only stuff after all and stuff can be replaced :)

Unknown said...

PS. I've left a little something for you on my blog. Check it out :)

Sara {Rhapsody and Chaos} said...

Oh man... I remember the day my parents' dog chewed through my manolos. The only pair I've ever had. And they didn't understand why I was so upset or why I would ever have spent so much on a pair of shoes, ha.

I have two cats. One of them, Piper, had to be rushed to the vet a week or so ago and although she ended up being fine (after fluid shots and other things) I was in a complete and utter panic.

But finding out when the much loved pet is going to be fine when you expected the worst? It's pretty much the BEST feeling in the world.

Elizabeth McKenzie said...

I know what you mean. I had a cat like that. Oh, how I loved that animal. He supplied us with so much pleasure. When he died, it was like losing a child. I can still get teary-eyes over his passing and it's been twelve years. Animals will brake your heart, cherish them while you can.