Kol

My very good friends, Les and Ann, have a Black lab.  Kol.  I met Kol last September.  In fact, even though Les and Ann are great friends and I have known them for a long time, I also just "met" them in person last September.  Kol was the greeting committee as I pulled into their driveway along a gorgeous creek in the Oregon coastal range.  How we became friends is a testament to building community, friendship, trust in an era when those things have long been forgotten...

But back to Kol.  I spent some time with this wonderful dog.  Our time together was a celebration of friendship: Les, Ann, Richard, and myself.  Kol was part of that whole time, wagging his tail as we sat down for a marvelous dinner, going for a run in the morning with Les and me, more "tail wagging" as we ate an amazing breakfast.  He watched, listened, and indeed was part of this group of friends getting to know each other in person.  Kol, indeed, was part of the group.  Labs are like that.

Several weeks ago Les told his friends that Kol had lung cancer.  We all waited, hoping the news would get better....

And yesterday, Kol left us.  Part of his spirit, I think, is in Willa.  One of the reasons I got her was the time I spent with Kol, watching this absolutely gorgeous dog, I decided Willa needed to be part of this family.  Our hearts ache for our friends.  All of us, all of us, know this loss.  Yet, because we know, it makes it even harder, I think.  These dogs who give us their all, who trust us, who rely on us...and when they are gone, when they have given us everything they had, we rumble around in the silence wondering how we can wake up to the next day.

The one thing I learned from Murphy is her love of life.  She woke up every day, every day, expecting life to be as good as yesterday.  I don't know if it is a lab thing, or a dog thing, but Sage, Annie Oakley, and Willa are the same way.  Every morning they are in the saddle ready to enjoy every moment.  And, that is what they expect of us.  Even if they are not here, they leave us the legacy of life.

Our hearts ache.  We have lost another great one.  Kol.  His light shines on.

Murphy's Day.