Dogs

As I head towards 50 I want to say some thank yous

Dogs were as much part of the world I entered as were humans. My granny always had a dog, we always had a dog and several neighbours had dogs. I don’t recall too many cats.

Dog, as you know, is God backwards and it is possible that God comes to us, at times, backwards. We think we have it worked out, we know who or what God is but then he shows up in a dog and we don’t realise. His sense of humour may give us a clue in the ‘backward thing’.

I may not have picked up my father’s enthusiasm for football but I did his affinity to dogs. It was there without me even thinking about it. Maybe that is how things are, ‘they are’ or ‘they are not’.

I had 3 dogs, Patch, Toby and Toby 2. If you saw me as a ‘wee boy’ you saw my dog close to my heel. They gave such companionship and loyalty.

They were always there when I wasn’t feeling great as a kid. It seemed easier to hang unto my dogs than humans. I remember on at least one occasion one of them licking the tears from my face.

Could God have come to me as a boy through a dog? Who knows but I like to think so.

Thank you, God, for dogs.

Best day,

g

(photo credit local paper 1974)