Every morning when you wake up and walk down the stairs, they're right there at the bottom to greet you. When you decide to move from the couch to go to the kitchen, like a shadow they follow. When the sacred word, "walk," is uttered, they jump up with the utmost joy and wiggle like there's no tomorrow.
Each day, every hour, every minute, they are always present. A daily given. An innate need.
But one morning, you wake up, and all that lies at the bottom of the stairs is a deflated soccer ball. When you go to grab yourself a cup of coffee, the only thing that follows is an empty silence…
You look to see a still leash hung on the wall. Turn to the empty bed across the room. All at once, it hits.
Suddenly, your heart sinks. You feel the void of the one constant.
Everything's changed.
No longer do you have to check the water bowl. No more picking fur out of your food. "Walk" will no longer have to be spelled out in daily conversations. Bones will no longer be strategically placed on the stairs to cause you to trip and fall. It's all going to be different. It's all going to be hard.
There is no way to prepare for the absence felt when they leave us.
Nothing will ever be able to fill the hole left in our hearts.
The best we can do is look at the memories. The belly laughs they caused doing something silly. The weird quirks that made them special and unique. Just try to remember the joy and happiness they blessed our family with.
"I had a good life. I guarded. I comforted. I was a friend."
Harley, you were our sunshine, our protector, our rescue. We'll hold you in our hearts forever. Sleep tight, my sweet boy.