Ode to Julius—
And to honor all beloved creatures who companion, hold, and nurture our deepest human selves, as only they can.
You sprang out of Mama Lily onto Melanie’s bed to a chorus of screams, along with your thirteen siblings on the Ides of March thirty-three years ago! As you were the biggest and the lightest and a boy, YOU got the name that signified the day….though your gentle earnest ways were surely far superior to he who is famous for this day.
A time lapse of our years:
You were born six months before Hurricane Hugo hit us. As a result of Hugo, your broken leg did not heel properly and you destroyed your hip joint forever. You lived with pain and challenges but you never complained.
You rode shotgun in the U-Haul when we moved from Charleston to NYC, leaving fleas behind but now a fourth floor walkup and Chows and Akitas to growl at on your walks in the park.
You collected my clients’ socks and settled in under the massage table, listening to the woes of the world for years…you and I were the only ones who knew these tales.
You were my sole room-mate when empty nest happened and the girls left for college. We shared the morning bagel and the afternoon ice cream cone, and watched cloud reflections from our balcony in the windows across the way.
You were the person I was released to after my time in the hospital.
You were the wild puppy who romped when joy exploded and the pillow that cuddled when the heart was broken.
You were at my side through all of the changes of dreams, professions and 9/11.
You and I sat on the promised rock, in the promised meadow in Boulder for weeks before you floated up into the great beyond, because I promised you that you would have a meadow one day.
You are a throbbingly alive being in my life story on this earth and I thank you for choosing me…US….on that crazy day thirty-three years ago, when Nina, at ten, read vet instructions and Melanie, at twelve, screeched her head off because her bed was a gooey mess.
THANK YOU, my heart’s friend and please celebrate with heaven’s version of hot pretzels today.