I let Dejah go out on the back deck for a few minutes, then swigged the rest of my coffee, set the cup next to the pot, and went to grab my coat and the leash.
The other golden retriever looked up at me with sad, expectant, and perhaps anxious eyes. I smiled at her.
“Just a little while longer, Will,” I said to her. The dog’s name is Summer, of course, but she does resemble her predecessor, to whom I often referred as Willow The Best Dog There Is™.
It’s a compliment — as well as evidence my brain is aging — that I sometimes mix up Summer’s name. Willow was the canine love of my life. I’ve had a special bond with a handful of dogs, but Willow and I were so close that — and I paused writing this sentence to come up with the precise adjective, but all I could come up with was “indescribable.”
When a fellow dog lover describes the best dog ever, it’s Willow’s face that springs to mind. Calling her Willow The Best Dog There Is™ was my way of poking fun at myself, because I know there are millions of Best Dogs Ever depending on who you ask.
Summer entered my life about five months after Willow left us, when I sat down on the breeders’ floor and let 10 six-week-old puppies swarm over me. Somehow after 45 minutes I concluded the pup with the yellow collar was Summer, although a few of her seven sisters almost earned that designation.
She is a sweet soul, this dog, and she often snuggles next to me when I write or type. When I wake up in the morning, I sit on the side of the bed looking out at the back yard, and most mornings Summer will come up and look at the outside world by my side, my arm around her shoulder.
Most mornings, too, we will take a walk up the hill and back. Her disappointment is palpable on the days when I skip that routine.
When I slip and call her Will or Willow, it’s a testament to how special Summer has become to me. I wonder sometimes if her eyes are sad because she senses my bond with Willow was once in a lifetime and that I am holding back just a little bit because of the memory of that devastating loss.
Or perhaps she wants to reassure me that I can have two once-in-a-lifetime bonds. It is, after all, once in her lifetime.
