This isn't so much about me. It is about Sherron. She is my aunt, and a person whom I respect very much. Lately I have been spending a lot of time with Sherron. It is her cabin that I went to last week. We picked huckleberries, ate slightly burnt cheese popcorn, watched the sun set on the lake, went in search of cabins that were for sale (so Todd and I could have our own) and talked. I took Max, my dog. He plays with her dogs, Josie and Giles. They are all Cairn Terriers (Toto on Wizard of Oz) and we got them from the same breeder. We joke that they are all related. Josie is 9 and Giles was the runt from her first and only litter. Giles is 8. We had a blast and when I left, as always, made plans to return more often. On Sunday, Sherron called me with the bad news that Giles had died of a heart attack quite suddenly. Now, Giles was a good dog. Tremendously smart. I am sad that he is gone. She is crushed. It is this that touches me. I have never seen Sherron cry. Never. Plenty of acceptable opportunity, but no. Not until now.
They are in the process of renting their house in Meridian and living at the cabin in the mountains. Did I mention that her cabin is nicer than my house? Any way today we were at the house cleaning and painting and getting 35 years worth of accumulation organized and I realized (again) how a loss is a loss, no matter how big or small. She said something interesting to me. "I shouldn't have let myself get so attached to a dog." It struck a nerve with me and I had to sternly correct her. It is those attachments that make it all worth while. It is that attachment that I have with her. As painfull as it is to loose something and what a horrible feeling it brings, it is, as they say "better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all". I would never wish that lesson on anyone. What a crappy thing. To think of something that you have loved the most and almost instantly realize that same thing has caused you so much pain. A lesson in contradictions, that's for sure. Like I said, Just when things were going good.......you realize you stepped in crap. It will ruin your day, and probably your shoes.
