It's surprising to me how many emails and messages I received following my post yesterday. And as is generally the case following a post that could be considered to be somewhat controversial, some words in those messages were encouraging and supportive and some were not. That's not what surprised me, the volume of emails or the kind and unkind commentary ... what surprised me was how many of you wrote to ask me if I had forgotten what yesterday was or why I didn't mention the significance of the day in my post. Let me assure you that I will never ever forget what happened on November 14, 2010 ... in fact, it's hard for me to believe that it has been three years since J.R. passed away, and there is hardly a day that passes that I don't think of him. I'm sure those of you who are dog owners will understand ... for as much as I love and adore my current canine companions Julie and Oliver, my J.R. will forever hold an extra special place in my heart. As to why I didn't mention him in last night's post, I simply felt the need to remember J.R. alone yesterday ... to pay tribute to his memory in the solitude of my own mind. It touches me deeply, though, that so many of you remembered my little fat buddy yesterday ... it means so much to know that you remembered.
Yesterday was a crazy busy day at work, so much so that I had to bring home a huge marketing plan to edit last night. The plan is for our animal health client ... think lots of chemical names, technical jargon and scientific references. I was up really late working on it, or really early I suppose since it was the wee hours of the morning when I finally finished working and crawled into bed with my doggies. I'm not sure how many times I hit the snooze button when my alarm sounded at 6 a.m., but I am sure that I did not want to get out of the warm and cozy cocoon of my bed. I don't know how they know, but Julie and Ollie seem to always know when I finally wake and am getting ready to get up for the day. And usually, when their supersonic canine senses tell them that I'm moments away from putting my feet on the floor next to my bed, they jump down, tails wagging, anxious to go outside.
Perhaps it's because they sensed how overwhelmingly tired I was or picked up on my emotions this morning, because Julie and Oliver did something they rarely do. Instead of jumping out of bed, both of them ... my 75-pound Julie and my 16-pound Oliver decided to climb on top of me instead. And not only did they climb on top of me, they started playing and wrestling and ... well ... they sort of mauled me. They were both pawing me, rolling all over me and trying desperately to sneak in wet dog kisses on my face. There's nothing quite like beginning my day by having two very rambunctious hound dogs maul me on a morning when I'm overly tired, sleepy and grumpy, and all I want to do is roll over and go back to sleep. For all my trying to get them to stop this morning ... to get Julie and Ollie to get off of me and jump out of bed ... my two sweet furry friends weren't having any part of it. The harder I tried to get them to stop, the more their tails wagged and their wrestling escalated until it happened ... I began to laugh ... and laugh ... and laugh.
I finally managed to get out of bed, and Julie and Ollie followed my example and jumped off the bed onto the floor and we went about our normal morning routine. It didn't strike me until late this afternoon that there was a lesson in getting mauled by my two hound dogs this morning. There are times when I feel mauled ... mauled by words, mauled by actions, mauled by thoughts. There are times when I feel as though the entire world is sitting on my chest ... pawing me, rolling all over me, mauling me, and not in a good or playful way like my dogs sometimes do. There are times when I just feel mauled ... stepped on, beaten up, trampled, pinned under a weight I cannot escape. But ... but ... but ... it's during those times that I need to remember ... perhaps it's during those times that I most need to remember to look for the love and the lesson and the laughter.
I'm going to bed, and should God choose to let me wake in the morning ... bring on the mauling ... bring it, Julie and Ollie ... bring it indeed.
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