Longing

If you read the DailyBark you know I don’t bark much. Well, I bark a lot in the house and I certainly bark at strangers, but I don’t do much formal barking.

The reason I volunteered to do today’s Bark is because of this picture. It’s a picture of me waiting for my dad to come back.

Me and dad make a strange pair. He didn’t choose me, I chose him. Well, not exactly. It’s hard to explain.

In 2009 Princess Codie died. I never met her and I’m not sure I would have liked her. She was the only dog in the household for thirteen years until mom decided to bring Asher home.

I’m told Codie didn’t like Asher at first, but she warmed up to him as he got out of his puppy madness.

Asher adored Codie. He would do anything she told him to do. They went everywhere together until the last few days of her life.

Once Asher realized Codie had crossed the bridge without him, he was so lost. Mom knew he needed a friend. Because Ash was young and handsome, mom thought he should have a girlfriend. That’s where I come in.

I had been picked up as a stray the day after the fireworks. Some kids adopted me and took me to live in a busy apartment. When they couldn’t keep me they tried real hard to find me a new home. Mom saw the ad for me on craigslist and the rest is history.

Me and Ash hit it off right away. There were all kinds of smells at Asherpark that made me crazy. I got into so much trouble I was always in the doghouse. I ran away as often as I could, but I’d hop in the car when they chased me down.

One day dad took me in his truck to get me out of the house. That’s when I knew he was my person, even though it took him a while to realize I was his dog.

One thing lead to another and pretty soon I was going everywhere with him. When he reads his newspaper, I lie next to his chair. When he watches TV, I lie next to him on the couch. Soon as he wakes up in the morning, I dash in to see if we’re going for a ride.

Before I came to Asherpark I never had a person like my dad. Somebody took care of me and fed me, but nobody took me with them every day. I guess I didn’t really know what it meant to have a special person.

One day me and Ash were talking. I told Ash I was confused about how I felt. My dad means so much to me it hurts to be without him.

Ash grabbed a hunk of my fur and gave it a twist. We started rolling around on the floor playing the mouth game. Then he looked at me real serious and said, “Tess, you love dad. That’s why it hurts to be without him.”

Ash got this far away look in his eyes like he was remembering something really sweet and sad at the same time. “Tess, I loved Codie. That’s why it hurt so much when she crossed the bridge without me. I miss her every day.”

I was still confused so I asked Ash what I feel when I can’t go with dad.

“It’s longing, Tess,” Ash said. “It’s the same thing I feel when I remember Codie and can’t be with her.”

So now I know. There are two sides to loving someone. There’s the fun side when you can be together and the sad side when you can’t. I gotta think about that, but right now my dad’s putting on his coat. I’m going with him. Watch me!