Sleeping in Her Bed I watch as he carefully manipulates each step, careful of his footing and what lies before him. His eyes are blind from cataracts and he hears only those words spoken loud and harsh. His once red hair has gone from grey to white but he’s still strikingly handsome. The old gentleman wanders from room to room and stumbles into those things that have been moved without his knowledge. He sometimes sits in quiet, blind eyes staring as if waiting for someone, that special someone. I watch as he enjoys resting in the warmth of the morning sun catching a nap as the world around him continues, without him or his cares. He’s easily startled by an unexpected touch followed by words of which he rarely hears. If I had the money I would love to give him at least one eye but cataract surgery cost more money than I have. Nothing seems to bring him joy so he sleeps most of the time. He can’t stand to be alone since she died and when left alone his grief can be heard through closed doors. Being blind and losing the companion that you relied on for so long is hard on the old gentleman, harder than we know. Since she died he’s lost some weight but it’s been a good thing. He can now manage the two steps out the back door buy hanging his head over the edge of the step and moving it back and forth like a pendulum while sniffing until he’s confident knowing where he’ll land. He used to be the fastest Dachshund around, long and lean with muscles that proved he was a super athlete. The steps he once took fast and in a giant leap are now almost more than he can manage, as he puts first one foot up then the other and he repeats this with his hind legs, straining and pulling until he reaches the top. I don’t know what depression looks like in an old blind dog, is he depressed or just old, deaf and blind. We’ve learned that dogs have a great capacity to love and how could they not with their ability to be the most loyal creatures on earth. Candy had gotten in bed with CJ the night she died but when we found her the next morning he was in the bed next to hers. I took his bed to the shop building so he’d have a comfortable place to rest while he was outside, and I washed the bed she died in and placed it back in the spot where they slept He wouldn’t get in the bed so I picked him up and put him in the bed, and he immediately got out and never got in the bed again. I’ve moved the bed from room to room hoping he would sleep in the bed once again as he used to. It was his favorite bed; in fact it was the favorite bed of both CJ and Candy. I watched her many times root him out of that bed or she would stand just looking at him as he laid there until he relinquished THE bed to her. It didn’t matter where I placed the bed, he would not get in it. Months went by with an empty bed just hanging around going from room to room when I decided to either throw the bed away or maybe someone could use it, seeing how it was a nice big bed, still in good shape with all the fluff and stuff still intact and maybe it would be appreciated by a bed less dog. Now, armed with a game plan, I carried the bed upstairs and tossed it next to my dresser out of the way. I spent a few days thinking of who the lucky dog was going to be. The dog, along with it’s person, would be honored to have such a wonderful bed, I just knew it. I was happy and relieved that the bed was no longer an issue or a mystery as to why CJ refused to sleep in such a kingly, awesome, once loved bed. The day ended and I made the nightly routine of locking doors and turning out lights as I headed up stairs, reveling in my ability to turn a sad situation into something wonderful for a bed less dog. I rounded the corner into the bedroom headed towards the dresser to get my nighties when I was stopped dead in my tracks. With eyes wide open, jaw dropped, I gasped! I could not believe what I was seeing! A big smile from ear to ear now filled my face. I leaned over to gently and lovingly pat the old gentleman, tell him goodnight and that he was a good boy because he was, now, Sleeping in Her Bed.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Jul 2013 03:41:58 +0000
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