Who doesn’t love puppies?
Puppies are the epitome of joy. They are cute, fluffy, funny, awkward… even when they are bad, they are cute. They chew up the most expensive pair of shoes we have, sometimes the wall or the trim on the wall. Still, they are loved beyond words and cuter than a button. I recently added a Chocolate Labrador Retriever puppy to my family, which I will talk about in my next blog. This blog will be dedicated to my late dog Bee.
There is an interesting backstory that predates my new 2022 puppy. About a year ago, actually, May 17, 2021, my 14-year-old chocolate lab named Bee went to be with Jesus. She was a wonderful, awesome, and amazing dog. She was loving, protective, and obedient– to say the least. My finite sidekick.
I got Bee when I was 20 years old; she was 4 weeks old and a whole 3 pounds. She loved car rides, which I learned from our 8-hour drive home after picking her up from the breeder.
I used to work in the agriculture industry– mostly with pigs and cows, and every day, she would come with me to work. Her favorite treats were cow patties. She endured the Texas heat in summer, the below zero temperatures and whipping winds of Illinois, and the extreme humidity that beckons gnats and horse flies.
She was in a few fights; she never started it, but she always finished it… even the time she came in second place, she came home with her head held high, limping, with a tiny chunk of skin taken out of her head about 3 inches above her right eye. She went with me on most car rides, even a 5-minute Walmart trip. She was a regular at college parties; men would even take her to pick up chicks. She was a chick magnet, or so I was told.
One time she injured her eye badly from a trip to the woods– I held her, comforted her, and held a warm washcloth to her eye about three times per day, in 20-minute intervals until she was healed. I remember she finally calmed down, quit her wildness with me, and let me take care of her. I finally saw true love in her eyes. From this, we learned how to trust one another, bonding on a new level. After this, we were inseparable. I told her everything.
People said she was just like me– meaning, she snubbed disingenuous and inauthentic people. I didn’t know whether to take that as an insult or a compliment. I was her best friend, and she was mine. Through my years of intoxication, depression, anxiety, self-hatred… drinking and driving five to six nights per week, taking an exorbitant amount of amphetamine-type pills just to get through graduate school, smoking marijuana all day every day, and taking psychedelic drugs… she hated when I would smoke marijuana especially. She wouldn’t have anything to do with me, and wouldn’t even let me pet her. She was a moral guide sent from God. He revealed Himself to me through her. She was beautiful inside and out.
Everybody loved Bee. Who wouldn’t? She was cool, calm, collected, independent, smart, witty, physically fit, and fast. She could learn a trick just by demonstrating it three times. She loved kisses, whole body scratch sessions, swimming… Oh, swimming. That dog would have lived in water if she could have. We would go on long walks in the woods at least three times per week. This was where she would have the most fun. Off her leash, she was the queen of the pack. She would run, explore, play, jump in mud and puddles, and always find something dead to roll in. She loved to hear the sound and feel the touch of the high grasses as she sprinted through them.
She was always by my side, through thick and thin. Everyone knew how much she loved her mommy. She looked at me with these eyes that said I was her whole world. Nothing could separate us, with the exception of death. My ride or die. A most amazing dog was Bee. The day she passed was one of the worst days of my life. Still my mind reels in sweet memories, but I am comforted by the fact that I will see her again someday.
Dogs have a way of showing us how loved we are, even when we are messiest, the least lovable, and at our lowest point. The world might hate us, they may even despise us, but our dogs are our loyal companions. They are always there for us– they comfort us in our sadness, calm us in our anxiety, and cheer us up in our depression. Their presence seems to make all worries disappear. Fear, worry, depression, anxiety, addictions… No matter the pain, dogs are the gain. Dogs are the best of friends to mankind.
Do you have any precious and cherished friends? Dog or human– do you have anyone loyal to you? Someone who knows your heart inside and out; someone who never dares to question your motives because they know you? This could be a family member, a friend, a doctor, a counselor… let us help. Here at NuWell, we have a whole army of counselors who could be loyal and caring for you. Let us walk by your side as Bee was by my side, through thick and thin.
