Column: Something About Nothing

Sam our faithful pooch has been a member of our household for nearly five years. He is our family.

Sam’s first year must have been a little rocky. He came from Georgia and was in a shelter where he was going to be put to sleep. A shelter in Minnesota brought him to this state where he would have a chance. It was evident that whoever had Sam the first year of his life trained him well. We think perhaps he was a Katrina dog.

We immediately fell in love with Sam and welcomed him into our home. It wasn’t without a few glitches along the way such as the time he decided to read all the books in my bookshelf and autograph them with his mouth. He also decided at one point that my birdbath should be underground instead of above ground. After the newness of his life with us wore off he settled into molding us into his lifestyle.

Sam has not had an accident in the house. He rings the bell when he needs to go outside. He shakes our hand, rolls over and has his own couch to sleep on at night along with two window seats. He loves my grandchildren and is very gentle with them.

The bottom line is that we love Sam.

Since we have acquired Sam we have acquired allergies. Sam leaves his coat wherever he walks. Our allergies have gotten worse over the years and a grandchild or two has acquired them too.

The past year it has become evident that part of our problem is Sam. Therein lays the heartbreaking problem. Do we keep Sam whom we love and continue to be sick and have problems or do we let him go to another home where there may be kids, and he will have love, too?

Then there is the fear that no one could love Sam as much as we do. What happens if we give him away and he is not treated like the king he is here?

Or what happens if no one wants him and he would have to go to a shelter?

All these thoughts have been running through our minds as we have been struggling with our health.

Sam has brought all of us so much joy. You cannot help but look at him and smile. He has also charmed the neighborhood and the kids.

When we decided to adopt a dog we made a commitment. We made a commitment to Sam to take of him, love him and give him the best life possible. How do we break that commitment to him?

There are no easy answers. If you are reading this and you are not a pet lover the answer would be easy. But unless you have a loved a pet you cannot understand the heartbreak when you lose a pet especially to death. To give him to someone else seems heartless.

Sam loves us when we are sick. He loves us no matter what kind of mood we are in and he even loves us if we are having a bad hair day.

I was hoping rambling in my column about my dilemma would give me some kind of clarity. It hasn’t.

“An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language.” — Martin Buber

“Dogs are miracles with paws.” — Attributed to Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy

Wells resident Julie Seedorf’s column appears every Monday. Send email to her at thecolumn@bevcomm.net.