First things first – Thank You for dropping by my blog today.

I consider it a blessing to have you here, and to be able to reach out to so many people every week.

I’m pleased to announce that – well, we’ll do that later this week. For right now I’m just going to thank you all, again, for the kind words after my post about Edzell. Between the different social media sites and my email it’s been a soothing balm on a road-rashed old man’s hide.

There is some lesson to learn in everything we do in this life. We usually aren’t smart enough, or aware enough, to see the message as it rolls by our eyes. That’s especially true when it involves a personal tragedy like the death of a loved one. And if the dog you’ve shared thousands of sunrises with isn’t a loved one, you need to see a doctor and make sure you have a heart.

Edzell held a great spot in my heart. All my dogs have taken hold in my life and enriched me beyond my wildest dreams. In the three days since Edzell’s passing I’m once again in a position to learn from yet another dog.

Over the past six months you’ve read countless (well, I’m sure somebody counted them, I didn’t) posts about my girl Stormy. She’s a rescue dog who had a tough life before coming to live with us this past Christmas. My wife and I have worked very hard to give her the love and understanding she needed to heal. She was very fearful at times and almost always socially distant.

As Edzell walked off the stage, she put on her best outfit and walked to the center of the boards. Once that spotlight snapped on and centered up on her she began to reflect that light. In the past three days she no longer reflects that light: she generates one of her own that is brighter than a thousand suns – her personality.

Stormy has what she always sought: her own home. She is confident that she is “the one” in our lives. We had talked about this months ago when we knew that Ed wouldn’t see another winter. My wife and I agreed that this girl needed some time to shine on her own with no sidekick to steal the scene.

It was the right decision. She’s spending her time in the room with us while we read or watch television. She hung out in the yard while we trimmed a tree and never once made a move toward the gate when it was open. She’s moderated her barking (part super-soaker and part new attitude) and is seeking pets at about ten times the rate she was before Saturday. And last night she hopped up on my bed and slept next to me without so much as a clap of thunder in the neighboring states.

Stormy is shining like the Sun.

Sometimes we forget that lonely people, and creatures, are afraid to compete for that love and kindness that we offer them. Sometimes they just need to be the only option before they feel they are beautiful.

Sometimes we need to look outside of our own perspective and peer at the world through their distant eyes. We couldn’t, wouldn’t, have done anything differently with Stormy. But we were blessed enough not to have another dog standing by to take Ed’s place.

Ed was a kind soul. I think he’s probably smiling right now at Stormy moving up next to the couch. He’s as happy for her as he is for us. We will miss him until we see him again in Heaven. But in the meantime, Stormy is stepping up to the task at hand and doing a radiant job of lighting our lives.

God provides for all of us in different ways. I’m just glad I got to be part of the family where Stormy changes to Sunny. Maybe a name change is in order to match her change of heart.