I meet a dog on the leafy streets of my hound-mad neighborhood, lounging on a bench in the shade. Small, fluffy and impossibly white, a Zen portrait of a clean conscience and absolute faith. My heart gongs when I see her.
I move in closer and notice that she is resting on a pair of knees. The trousered knees of a markedly old man. Knees that have been in the trenches, traveled the world, and seen more action than a virtual game.
At first, the decorated Polish war vet and grateful family man tells me he’s 85, then 90, 95 and we’re pushing a century. What’s five years, give or take? We laugh at his confusion. He says, I won’t remember you the next time we meet.
The pooch and I exchange a look of such pure connection, I am floating. Her eyes are deep water. There is no guile there, nothing but surging love. I swim and a wave overtakes me.
The old man’s voice cracks. He tells me, she’s dying. She’s dying of tuberculosis. He says, my heart is breaking. He says it three times, there is no confusion. I look into his face and I wonder how many times his heart has been broken… and repaired. She is only five years old, not yet middle-age for a dog. What is five years, give or take?
What is it?
I bend down on my knees, put my ear next to her mouth, and she tells me.
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For Part 2, click on- Puppy Love, Part 2: The Resurrection–
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FAN THE FLAMES: My dear readers, would you help produce this series of love stories about an old man and a puppy – as a book?? If so, please…
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31 Responses to Puppy Love
Brenda you brought tears to my eyes.
Beautiful tale (tail) beautiful lady
xx
Kim
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beautiful and touching. Just like you.
kk
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Touchant, émouvant, pleins de tendresse. J’adore te lire!XX
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Wow. That was beautiful, Brenda.
Robert
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Fantastic, deep, real, moving – wow! The photos are wonderful as well, especially the close-up on the dog’s eyes!!
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I’m crying…
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Love the photos that go with this lovely piece…
Maureen
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Got all choked up.
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Thanks so much for your big hearts. If you feel so inclined, please help spread the word and share!
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Beautiful! My dog taught me what it really means to be in the moment and how much of our suffering is often what we pile on top of the initial pain making life so much more miserable. He taught me much more than this and because of him I have many dear friends I would never have met if I hadn’t been out of the house taking him for a walk.
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We have a lot to learn from animals, let alone from nature. It’s all there for the taking.
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This story is what I hope to find on the internet maze. My white pom holds casts a similar spell of guileless energetics. Add your endearing Polish vet, and the brief candle of life and your tale enlivens our lives. Thank you.
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Thank you. That was beautiful and very moving, Brenda. You had such a wonderful connection. So much in in their eyes ❤
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moved me deeply.
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This story brought tears to my eyes, then I remembered to breathe.
Old men should probably not outlive their young dogs. Our capacity to love, to lose, and to start all over again is infinite.
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[…] Spoiler Alert: The following is the sequel to this furry little tale […]
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[…] Alert: The following is the second sequel to an undying tale. See it stand alone, or click on: Part 1 and Part 2. Now, for Part […]
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you made that gentleman a very happy human being. old people need attention as well as dogs.
mom
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You seem to have fans. Good for you. Your strength (along with those eyes) is inspiring.
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[…] wife of the 90+ Eddy- tender war vet, family guy and my senior crush. I can’t stop blogging about them and their fluffy, little pooch- who first winked at me from a park bench last summer, yanking me […]
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Sadly, my mother passed away last week and while looking through some of her papers, I discovered this article… and much to my amazement, it was an article about my parents, Eddy and Junia. A swell of emotions permeated my entire being, tears streamed down my eyes. I want to thank you, so much, for your lovely words. The photos that you took of my parents and Snieska, also overwhelmed me and I seem to find myself returning to them, over and over again, their eyes, their essence.
I believe you spoke to my sister yesterday, and I am so sorry that we were not able to tell you of my mother’s passing. We miss her stoic stregnth and loving ways and take solice in your lovely and poignant words.
I hope to meet you one day…
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Oh, Mila, your words mean so much to me, I cannot express. I think I can speak for many of my blog’s readers and offer our deepest condolences on the loss of such a wonderful woman, your mother Junia.
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[…] met Sgnieszka and Eddy on a park bench under a tree last summer. I went bananas for the pooch and fell hard for the old man, […]
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The last chapter of life is painfully sad with loss of health and loved ones. You have captured their youthful beauty in your words.
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What a beautiful story! Time is relative, anyway. 5 years is short for some, and a lifetime for others. This is yet another reason to enjoy the time we have and, as you say, fall in love!
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Thanks, Muriel! I try to fall in love every day.
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The guy’s whose photo I use (because he has better hair) stole my wife’s heart right in front of me one Saturday morning as we were exiting the shopping center.
Have discovered he can read
When we come in Fridays with a bag from the burger we get the normal greeting and he is not interested in the contents. But if we come home with the bag of the rib place you get an extra welcome and he is in such a hurry for his piece he would set the table if he could.
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[…] Puppy Love […]
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[…] old, Polish man with a sweet heart and a killer constitution, the unassuming, slow-moving star of a story that he, his late wife and their little dog so gamely let me take a crack at. As I contemplate the […]
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SOO CUTE!!!!
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[…] Edward ‘Eddy’ Rolicz […]
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