Losing a pet is so very hard, no matter how long you have had them. Ransom was 14. We had him for 10 of those 14 years. He came to us through a plantation. One of the plantations we did work for pointed him out to my dad and said he needed a home. They claimed he did not fit into their type of work and he just lived in the kennel. He was well taken care of but they wanted him to have a better life. Enter Charles and Haley. My dad brought him home for Charles (because no boyfriend of a veterinarian should be dog-less)! We quickly realized why he did not fit into plantation life. Ransom was the goofiest, clumsiest, and most hyper lab. At this plantation they hunted off of wagons and apparently he would jump of the wagon. I think Ransom had some type of anxiety about riding in or on something moving because that trait became aware to me while riding in the car. He hated car rides. He would ride in my back seat on the driver's side and pant the whole way to work into the back of my head, my hair blowing with every breath. Sometimes I had to ride with the windows down to deal with that hot breath and stinking body for my 17 minute drive to work.
When I get to know an animal, I attribute some type of human personality to it. I think "if this animal were a person, what would he be like?" If Ransom were a human, he would be a funny guy...the type of person that always made you laugh, not an over the top kind of class clown, just a naturally funny kind of guy who could easily laugh at himself. He would also be very sensitive and have the right words to say to someone when they were sad or down and out. I think all the girls would have wanted a date with him and he would most definitely have been voted "Most Likable" when he was a Senior in high school. He just would have been the guy everybody liked...a good ol' boy.
Since Charles and I have been together, we have combined the collars of our deceased animals and they hang in a picture gallery in our hallway (that is the picture above). For most of our time together we have only had three collars hanging there. Now there are four; two collars hang on that middle hook. It may be a morbid way of thinking but I know that number will increase. Having pets is a beauty and a beast. The beast is they leave much too soon but the beauty is the joy they bring. I simply can not imagine a life without them.
Until one has loved an animal a part of one's soul remains unawakened. Anatole France