Kaleo

Since I've mentioned Kaleo several times lately, I thought I'd post a photo of him - let y'all know what he looked like. See? Tough act to follow, eh? But I guess this is the point I want to make. Up till now, I felt like I've been living in his shadow. And Pops is always thinking about him, even though - bless is heart - he knows he should see me for who I am and love me for me. But he can't help himself... and then he feels guilty about it.

Well, recently... somehow... we both came to the same realization - that when I was feeling like I'm living in Kaleo's shadow and when Pops thought he was clinging to the past, we were actually just feeling the presence of Kaleo. I mean, he really is here among us. Every time Pops thinks about him it's because Kaleo's spirit bumped into him or somethin'. I know I feel him around all the time. And I know Trina does too. Pops said the day he completed and installed Kaleo's memorial in the garden, Trina went right up to it, sniffed it and laid down in front of it all morning. She and Kaleo were real tight. They were the same age, so she played with him a lot more than she does with me. But she teaches me a lot of cool stuff. I love Trina Jieh-jieh.

Yeah, funny how things come around eventually. I'm glad my patience with Pops paid off. He's a good man and always comes around to the right thing... well, almost always. Sometimes it takes a few years. And now that he and I have both acknowledged and embraced Kaleo as a spirit living among us, we open our hearts to each other more easily. Sure, he still makes comparisons between me and Kaleo every now and then, but it's not a bad thing. It's more like growing the love. Sharing the memories. After all, don't we always see ourselves as reflections in each other's faces? How else are we gonna see ourselves?

Anyway, check out the photos. Whenever Pops and I go out, people we meet always look at me and say, "What a gorgeous dog! Look at those eyes!" Guess Kaleo used to get the same thing. Either way, Pops gets a big swell in his heart when that happens.

PrincessTrina and I

Let the pictures speak for themselves! Oh yeah... and Pops, too, but we don't need to speak too much about him! He did clean his face up though, and looks less like ET with a beard. Ha ha... don't tell him I said that! Well, Moms thought it was funny too. She never did like his silly goatee.

Memory

I've often heard humans say, in their infinite wisdom, that dogs don't remember things. Usually, it comes from dog trainers who rightfully tell people not to scold dogs for something they did two or three actions ago, but wrongly reason that it's because we can't remember past more that one action, that we can't generalize or do abstract thinking. Well, duh! If you tell me to stop doing something and I stop, why are you still yelling about the thing I was doing before I stopped? You do that to your kids? And you wonder why they're neurotic? It's not that we "forgot" what we did, but we're ready to move on. Besides, who's always looking for their keys, or glasses or half-finished cups of coffee? We dogs, on the other hand, know exactly where we buried our bones or where we left our favorite toys months ago.

But I'm not talking about such frivolous things here. Truth is, we remember a lot - all the important things, like kindness, good times. We remember bad times too, but we don't cling to them. Mostly we understand. I was never angry at Pops for remembering Kaleo. Sure, I'd stay away sometimes, when he's really lost in his thoughts. I respect his privacy and I never hold it against him. Because I understand. Someday, he will be remembering me too. I know I'll never forget him. Our bodies don't last, but our memories do. They are what keep us together forever. Some say that we are prisoners of our memories but I say, so what? Who needs freedom when love is what we really want?