Go Grab a Hanky...

So, back when my man, Brandon, was curating the Savers' book section he would always give me a little extra nugget to go check out. After he read about Penny, he sent me back to BrainPickings to read this poem by John Updike entitle "Another Dog's Death":

For days the good old bitch had been dying, her back
pinched down to the spine and arched to ease the pain,
her kidneys dry, her muzzle white. At last
I took a shovel into the woods and dug her grave

in preparation for the certain. She came along,
which I had not expected. Still, the children gone,
such expeditions were rare, and the dog,
spayed early, knew no nonhuman word for love.

She made her stiff legs trot and let her bent tail wag.
We found a spot we liked, where the pines met the field.
The sun warmed her fur as she dozed and I dug;
I carved her a safe place while she protected me.

I measured her length with the shovel’s long handle;
she perked in amusement, and sniffed the heaped-up earth.
Back down at the house, she seemed friskier,
but gagged, eating. We called the vet a few days later.

They were old friends. She held up a paw, and he
injected a violet fluid. She swooned on the lawn;
we watched her breathing quickly slow and cease.
In a wheelbarrow up to the hole, her warm fur shone.

And that led me to the lovely Fiona Apple who cancelled several weeks of a tour in order to stay home with her ailing dog.  Here is a post on the letter she wrote to her fans.

Yes yes yes. 

Comments

[Kevin Moriarity]

Pets inevitably break your heart. Words like this make me hug the boy cat even tighter.

[Di]

Thought of you, so just in case you missed it: http://www.npr.org/2011/09/20/140435330/this-pig-wants-to-party-maurice-sendaks-latest

Home now, the intensity of 5 weeks in New Zealand, where every day had something sublime in it, I'm ready to settle and work again.

The dog story, I had Sandie-dog xx

[Laura]

I can't remember where I read this recently but someone had written about how they noticed that whenever they complimented someone's dog that they would look back sometimes (if the dog walker was passing him on the street) and inevitably the person would be smiling and patting the dog. The writer had this sense that his bringing attention to something positive about the dog made the owner appreciate it even more or just refreshed that appreciation, hence the extra pat. And that might be the biggest endorsement of why writing is important. If it leads us to a higher level of consciousness about something we care about so that if actually influences our actions...well that is no small matter.

Di! Welcome home. Oh it must have been so hard to leave NZ. I'll be running over to catch up with you shortly.

And good morning, Kevin!

[Laura]

Oh! And Di, I DID catch the Sendak interview. Thanks for posting it here for those who may not have. It's outstanding. Such a funny, funny man and such a poignant interview. I had not ever heard him speak before he was on Colbert and I was instantly smitten. Such a loss.

[Frank Rutledge]

Mr. Updike is one of this generations finest writers. As a housemate to 2 cats and a avid animal lover this poem hits home. One of the joys of life is being able to share our days together with animals. Thank you for sharing. P.S. Savers is not the same without Brandon.

[Laura]

Oh, I know. I can't believe he's not there. He's destined to own a rare book store or be an archivist. Gives me hope that young people like him exist.

Hey, so introverts, I was thinking about something and I'll copy a bit of an email I just sent to someone on the subject of pets and introverts which could be totally wrong but here it is and I'm curious if anyone else has thought about this:

"I actually found myself wondering if introverts are even more prone to feeling a certain depth of loss when a pet dies for the simple reason that pets don't exhaust us the way people can. I never need recovery time from animals. Penny is the only 24 hour companionship I never tire of. Nothing against my loving husband, but sometimes I just need him to go to the store or something. lol I think pets might serve a vital function for people who might be inclined to overly isolate otherwise. I don't think I really appreciated that fully in this way before but Kevin commented on both the dog and the introversion posts and seeing them juxtaposed in my inbox just got my attention."

This is in NO WAY to minimize grief an extrovert would feel over the loss of a pet but I do think my introversion and my devotion to my animal companions dovetail in some way.

Thoughts?