Yesterday was a sad day for our family, especially for Annie. It was on January 2, 2012, with no other options available, her sweet Pug dog Frodo entered eternal rest. Rest it will be for the poor little guy who has suffered long with breathing issues; in the last several weeks his health deteriorated completely due to those issues. After two weeks of doctor visits and x-rays and medications, it was apparent there was no hope for even partial, let alone full, recovery.
Dogs have heart? They feel? They understand? They comfort? No one can convince me otherwise. Frodo was such a dog. Rescued at about age eight, his first job was to take Annie from a state of depression following a crippling bout with staph that infected her bloodstream.
He arrived on a Friday night a week before her birthday. “Who’s this?” she blinked when he walked into the great room where she had been living for weeks.
“It’s your new dog. Happy Birthday.”
The light in her eyes and smile on her face, the first we had seen in a long time, was answer enough. From that moment, the two were inseparable.
Frodo knew his purpose in life. It was to be a companion. He did not play typical dog games, he didn’t run with the other dogs in our family. He only desired to be close to Annie. He knew when she was sad or happy, and leaned into her. He waited for her with more patience than Job. He filled every lonely moment of her first sixteen months in Colorado, some of the toughest times she knew.
Annie was given a gift of assurance this morning that Frodo is at peace, breathing freely, and where he belongs. For many years, she has gotten up before the crack of dawn to head out to witness that dawn. Sunrise has always called her. This morning, when she walked out her apartment door to the parking lot, early as usual for her commute, a sunrise greeted her that stopped her in her tracks and took her breath away. See the pictures below. It is truly the most spectacular sunrise. God knows our language and is ever seeking ways to communicate His love to us, as He did to Annie.
Frodo was the most devoted dog I have been honored to know. He put every ounce of energy into being the best at what he was meant to be. I wonder if we humans put as much effort into living our calling how much more content we would be. If we were all content, think of what a better world we would live in.
Thank you, Frodo, for your sweet example of selfless devotion and love. Thank you for teaching us lessons in contentment and fulfillment. You will be missed by many, for ever.
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