Lab Lessons on Letting Go and Doing What Makes Us Happy

The Wonder Years

The anticipation was overwhelming for all of us when awaiting the day when we would pick up our first family puppy. My then 8-year old son hadn’t slept for the entire week prior and we were all preparing ourselves for her arrival. When I say, ‘all’, that didn’t include our beloved geriatric rescue dog Reggie, who was just fine being a ‘one dog’ family.  You could say he was a bit caught off guard with our new family member.

Her arrival home was as sweet as any of us imagined. She was cautious and took to her big brother Reggie, first and foremost. As her comfort grew in her surroundings, so did curiosity and exploration, and thus my first lesson in ‘letting go’. First, it was the baby photo album, then our wedding album, then a pair of shoes, then sunglasses and sadly, some things that belonged to my mom, who had recently passed. As utterly distressing each of these losses were to me, at the end of the day (or sometimes week), I came to realize that things are just things. I have also realized that love is hard sometimes. I can be really really mad at someone or something, but I can still love. Letting go of my new family pet would be far more difficult and detrimental to me than letting go of anger and the things I felt I valued. If it weren’t for this mischievous new addition to our lives, I also would have never learned the important life lesson of letting go in order to move forward, even if it hurts or feels unfair at the time. I can chose to be defined by what is going well for me today, instead of what I am holding on to from yesterday.

Leia, you are lucky you are so darn cute!

The Golden Years

Reggie is our senior and it has been both difficult and enlightening to watch this majestic family member age. As his third owners, Reggie came to us at 2 years old and had previously been resigned to a life in a kennel. His last people recognized this hardship and found him a home where he could enjoy people and exercise, the things a large family dog needs. Due to some of his anxiety (freedom is scary!) and his propensity towards swallowing socks and underwear, we had some interesting adventures over his lifetime and anyone who knows us begs for ‘Reggie stories’ each time we see them.

Reggie had appeared to be reaching his end when we started searching for a puppy, and subsequently reserved one from a local breeder. We were as surprised as Reggie when we suddenly found ourselves a ‘2 dog family’. As it turned out, his new sister Leia breathed some life into the old guy, 2 years and counting of life! He is still as loyal as ever to us and as I watch him struggle to breathe, walk, get up off the floor, and climb stairs, I have learned that a key difference between him and me is that he does not lament …. not one bit!

As I’ve also aged and acquired various injuries and ailments, I can see how I often lament over doing things that I know will bring me happiness. Reggie doesn’t think for a second “ah, there’s no way I’m going to make it upstairs, it’s going to be too hard”. He thinks “hey, mom’s going upstairs, I want to be where she is, I’m going upstairs”. When he reaches the top, he is breathing so hard, and yet his tail is wagging harder. I think we could all be a little more satisfied with our lives if we chose to focus on what it is that we are going to gain as a result of our efforts, as opposed to how hard the journey will be to get there. Thanks wise old Reg, for that important life lesson and for always wanting to be by my side.

Stay tuned for more Lab Lessons!