Home for the Holidays
I am counting down the days- 10 to be exact! Not the days left to mail packages and haver them arrive in time for Christmas. Not the days left until Christmas . Not the days left in the year 2009.
I am counting down the days until my son returns from his first semester at college. To hear that familiar door slam and “Mom!” called will be the best Christmas present of all- nothing else required. To go to sleep at night knowing he is in his bed upstairs and to wake every morning to him sauntering into the kitchen for some breakfast is all I want/all I need. I can’t wait to have him put the last few ornaments we have saved for him on the tree. Can’t wait to hear him laugh with his sisters. Can’t wait to see his crooked smile and have one of the enormous hugs. And my heart will be full and overflowing when he comes down those stairs with his sisters on Christmas morning just as they have done for many many years.
His sisters and I are not the only ones who will be very happy he is home- Maddie will be so happy that “her boy” is here. When they lock eyes and he says “hello girl” she, too, will feel that overwhelming joy. Maddie is our fifteen year old rescue dog. We have had her fourteen of those years and when she had aged enough and earned her place inside the house, she became Todd’s roomate. For years they have slept together and awakened together and when she became so weak and arthritic that it seemed impossible to go up the stairs to his room- she did it. There was no keeping her from Todd.
Maddie, by all medical logic, should not be here today but her sheer will to live and her desire to remain with us has sustained her an additional 1 1/2 years beyond the day we considered putting her to sleep after seeing the reports. Having done that before with other dogs, we chose to give Maddie the choice to tell us when it was time- we are still waiting for that day. There are signs and some days we listen more carefully but the message has not been spoken. Ten days until Todd’s return and I pray I don’t hear it.
We now have a baby gate at the stairwell so that Maddie will not attempt to climb the stairs (she also loves the girls and wants to always be with us no matter where we go). I know that the gate will be moved aside and Maddie will follow step by step each night with “her boy”- slowly and surely. The return trip down may need some strong arms to carry her but she will do the ascent on her own for the prize at the end will keep her going.
Homecomings are precious- the moment of reuniting is beyond words. I know that one dog in particular will not need words- her tail and eyes will do the talking and it will speak volumes.
May all your homecomings this season be filled with joy and the reuniting of loved ones in your lives. I will be closed from December 20-January 5th so as not to miss all those precious moments. When we re-open in January we will have warm breakfasts to go, new items in our coolers to bring home for dinner or share at gatherings with friends, classes to join and cooking to do! Check out all the many places on our website and visit the shop- we will be there until the 19th cooking and watching “It’s A wonderful Life”. Sfter that….I will be savoring a truly wonderful life at home.
Until next week-
