One year ago yesterday, my dog of 14 years passed away. I sat beside her as she struggled to finally release her last breath. I sobbed rather uncontrollably because it seemed she didn't want to leave me anymore than I wanted her to leave. But the life expectancy of any creature on earth can only be considered limited and short, regardless of how long they live.
I don't want to depress you with thoughts of how much I miss my blonde cloud of happiness and hilarity. I don't want you to think that I'm writing this so that I can let out some deep sorrow or withheld grief. I'm writing because it just feels right to do for the first full year of her passing.
Yes, I miss her greatly, but it led me to reason that I don't want to live without a dog. Jasmine and I had too many great times to count. We went to the beach, Colorado, Wyoming, Austin, Galveston, baseball games, softball games, soccer games, picnics, other people's houses, the New Belgium Brewery, and a ton of other places. She had a slow, whoopty-do walk that told everyone they could wait on her. She loved attention and she loved to ignore. She was hilarious and she was smart. She was my dog of 14 years and I knew before she ever gave the first sign of fading that I would want another.
I did, in fact, get another dog. His name is Jack London Bass and he is a pure-bred Siberian Husky. He came around almost six months exactly after Jasmine passed away. He is a funny, hyper, attention grubbing dog, who may be the most beautiful dog I've ever seen. People comment about him wherever I go. He is goal oriented only because he needs something to pee on. He is nosy and doesn't understand anything about street traffic.
I am really starting to like this dog, but I do have to remind myself not to make unfair comparisons. Jasmine was a one-in-a-million dog, but she had to grow into one. Jack is still very young and I hope he grows into the same category. I know he will never take Jasmine's place. She stole a piece of my heart a long time ago. But I do know that I am more than willing to let him steal another piece.
I understand the heartache that lies ahead of me with owning another dog, regardless of how long Jack lives. And I am completely fine with it. It will hurt and I will miss him, but, much like Jasmine, I wouldn't trade away all those great years just because I didn't want to experience that relatively brief moment of despair.
So yes, there is a girl I miss. I miss her very much. Lucky for me though, I have Jack.
