I know this is a blog about writing, but it's Christmas Eve and to be honest with you writing is the last thing on my mind. You know what is on my mind, Maggie. Maggie is my fifteen year old shih-tzu. Who on a bad day is called...well, you can imagine what she's called on a bad day. Today is her birthday. She's clueless, but it isn't lost on me. All she knows is that for some reason she's gotten a lot more treats today and a lot more attention and as far as she's concerned it should have been like this all year.
Maggie is Miss Independent. (The one laying down) Her sister Sophie is Miss Co-dependent. (The one in my arms) Together they make the perfect dog. Individually, I'm the one who needs the drugs at the end of the day. Maggie has been independent from the day I brought her home. She never wanted to be held. She'd let you know if she wanted to be petted, if her water bowl was empty, if she wants to be taken outside. Basically, she lets you know when you're needed. It's a slightly sick relationship.
But the last few years she's really started showing her age. It was her hearing that went first. Which honestly, because she's so dang ornery, took me about a year to figure out. I just thought she was her usual self and was ignoring me. It wasn't until I realized that when I came home and the alarm began to sound and she never stirred that maybe sister had gone deaf. Then the arthritis kicked in. On rainy days poor things reminds me of my Aunt Alice. She doesn't climb stairs anymore, which if you ask me still goes pretty well with her diva persona. I think she always thought she should be carried up the stairs anyway.
But she has been a gift to me. An angel in ivory fur. More tears have been cried into her backside than bottles could hold. She has walked with me through the heartbreak of divorce, the years of no children, and the death of her other sister Chloe. And she has been a faithful companion. So, tonight on her birthday I'm celebrating the fact that heaven gives a lot of good gifts.
There is much to sit and ponder in a season like this. It's even to get wrapped up in our losses. We've all had them. But I choose this season to get wrapped up in my blessings...the gifts of my family, the amazing love of my friends, the forgiveness of my Savior, and the companionship of a four legged creature who on most given days could drive me to drink, but today I am choosing to celebrate. May your day be filled with joy. Your new year be filled with peace. And your life be filled with companions as delightful and challenging as this one. Maggie, Merry Christmas...here's to fifteen more.
Denise, Maggie and Sophie make their home in Franklin, Tennessee where Maggie refuses to go on walks. So- Denise and Sophie take them by themselves.
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