Love On Lockdown

I have friends who recently had to 'put down' their dog. I observed my friend's wife describe the tragedy of his pain and agony prior to his demise. My dear friends grieved as one would who has lost a loving family member.

Oh, how I greatly related to their grief and understood their loss. As I was listening to her, in an instance, I was taken down the bereavement corridors of my memory bank. In a flash, I was some 60 years removed from the present scene to the place and time of the demise of my dog name Jack.

As I listened attentively to my friend's painful story, I was awakened to a reality that I had never seriously entertained. For all those years, I never acquired a dog except one we purchased for our children who in relatively short order, lost interest. We were forced to give him away, hoping that a deserving family would love and care for him. We never saw him again.

As my friend shared their pain and loss, it appears that for the first time I was confronted with the fact that 60 years ago, something happened to my emotions that rendered me incapitable of ever loving a dog again. It occurred to me that it's possible, that subconsciously I was cast into what I would describe as a love lockdown mode.

I once loved a dog who was shot to death by a farmer for the offense of trespassing on his property. After Jack's death, love for another dog has not entered my heart since that time.

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