But darned if I can remember what it was I wanted to say. That’s what happens when you start reading about the new plugins and widgets that WordPress has available for you. I’m like a squirrel with a shiny dime in front of me – mesmerized.
But, as long as I’m babbling I had a revelation this morning about old dogs. My friend Edzell is a very senior citizen. His walk is wobbly, he has poor vision, deaf as a post … kind of sounds like me for the first twenty minutes of each day.
Seriously, he’s having a tough time navigating. But he’s such a good friend, and such a sweet soul that it’s hard to get mad at him for delaying his entry to the room because the light level is different, or the flooring is slick. His most annoying flaw is that he’s always been a pain about going up the back steps. Dawdles and stares at you like his greatest hope is that you’ll go away and just let him stay outside for the rest of the day. And once he starts up the steps it can take him five minutes to make the journey. Three or four false starts that require a trip to the bottom of the stairs can now be called the norm.
This morning I realized that he doesn’t do it to make me nuts. He does it because his body has never been designed to do stairs. God hadn’t put that into his model when construction began. He doesn’t do well on stairs. He’s fearful and it is hard when you’re a big dog with balance problems. I get it now. I just have to remember to be patient and love him more. Going down the steps and standing next to him helps. He’s not worried about falling down the stairs if you do that for him.
I hereby resolve to do that for my friend. Rain or shine, I will patiently wait for him or go down the stairs to help him up said stairs. Because I fear I won’t be looking out into the yard for him much longer. And that will be much harder to take than a short wait for the arrival of a cherished friend.
