In the past few years I have started to realize that life becomes wonderful in the small moments. Those chunks of time between the monumental decisions or carefully planned routines are the places where spontaneous joy lives.
When I reflect on the question of happiness in this life, these are the scenes that play in my mind. I see that time my husband and I accidently froze all of the eggs in our fridge and couldn’t stop laughing hysterically as we pealed them. Or the time we miscommunicated what size of ham I wanted him to pick up at the grocery—20 pounds of ham is too much for two people. I ended up hacking it into manageable pieces, and we had months of frozen ham. Not every happy memory revolves around frozen things, though. Some of the best moments feature our basset hound, Rosie.
I love words, but it can be difficult to find the right ones to describe the love I feel for that goofy dog. She is more than a member of the family; she is constantly shaping us in ways that will never fade. Because her impact on our little family happens in fabulous spurts of joy, I want to share a few of the funny moments that cement her place in my heart.
When she was young, we bought a small walled dog bed for her. Now about 50 pounds larger, she still gets upset if we move her baby bed. In stressful situations she walks over to that tiny teal bed and squeezes her bulky frame into it. She’s a puddle of fur and flub in that tiny dog bed. It’s precious.
When she isn’t napping, Rosie likes to paint. Since we are new homeowners, we have been painting a lot over the past few months to spruce up the space. If you see two parallel trails of paint zigzagging throughout the house, you know that she is “helping.” She loves to help.
It is well known that dogs love people food. We are lucky in this way because Rosie does not beg most of the time. Until eggs are available. Then it is game on for her. However, my husband has made a sort of deal with her. If she will sit patiently while he is cooking up the fluffy masterpieces of her dreams, she can share with her dad. She is now really great at sitting, but if you use that command, there better be eggs on hand.
I could go on and on about my darling girl, but will end with only one more vignette. Rosie has given herself the job of peacekeeper within the household. When she hears raised voices, she springs into action. I was in a terrible mood one day for who knows what reason. Nothing was going right, and everything was cause for more distress. Plopping down on the couch, I closed my eyes and started to stew. But then I felt a heavy paw on my stomach. Cautiously placing each paw in front of the other, Rosie climbed up my torso and onto the arm of the couch behind my head. Then I felt a weight on my head and a velvety ear flop over my face. She was upside down on top of my head. Opening my eyes I started laughing and couldn’t help but smile until my cheeks hurt. My husband started snapping pictures, and Rosie’s tail wagged continuously—setting a beat to a beautiful moment.
This month, I had the chance to speak with several people who are completely in love with their pets. Each of these folks had adopted the animals they are featured with and are so proud of their furry friends. During our conversations, there were interruptions of both tears and chuckles. It was a beautiful thing to listen to and to know personally. The love between an animal and their human is unique. No matter what kind of animal, large or small, its companionship brings so much joy into life. I hope you enjoy reading these lovely stories of friendship, and if you have a pet at your side, give them an extra rub or treat—they’ve earned it!
