I've never had something that I loved so much try my patience so often, and challenge me like she did. Life with Lola wasn't passive. It was active. It was fully present in the moment. It was tiring. It was fulfilling and beautiful. It was dirt and fur and panting and sweat and food and noise and smiles and yelling and barking and licking and jumping and laughing. It was vibrant life.
I think dogs come into our lives for a reason, and for a time. Even if our working dogs aren't working, they still have a job. Lola was a new companion in a new place and a new marriage journey. Lola licked away many tears, from tragic losses to timely losses. From the struggle to be parents to the day we brought our two human children home. She was there. I guess her job was done, and I think she knew that. I still have trouble accepting it though, but as God and dogs often do, they didn't consult me on that timeline. Probably better they didn't let me choose.
It's almost like God gave us Lola to prepare us for something...or someone. I see Lola's spirit in AC. I often say that Lola is AC's spirit animal. That same untamed flare. Mischief and playfulness with a touch of defiance, but laid over an intense drive and strong intellect. I had to dig deep to find patience for Lola. I dig deeper to find it in the daily task of parenting. So Lola trained me up to be ready for the little human spitfires I now shepherd and train.
She reminded me to never take something you love for granted, as we never know our own timelines. She taught me to live in the moment, and embrace the nature and job you've been given.
Most people say "rest in peace" to their departed loved ones, but, Lola, I don't see you doing much resting. You were never one to sleep in or take it easy. I'm not sure exactly what God does with a dog's spirit, or even exactly what that looks like. I'm OK with not knowing and not understanding now (I wasn't always), but I know your spirit and all that love we shared is still alive and active in some way. It's too powerful to go to waste. I know the shepherd in you is still at work.
You always had a master greater than me. One that created you, like He created me. One that loves his created animals even more than we do. I trust Him now, that the gap you leave in my heart is not gone forever, but part of the redeeming work he's completing in all of us. You're a good girl. A crazy girl. Our Lola girl. You're my dog. Always a part of me. So long friend.
"When you love something, you grant it soul, you see its soul, and you let its soul touch yours. You have to love something deeply to know its soul. Before the resonance of love, you are largely blind to a thing’s meaning, value, and its power to literally save you. In fact, until you can appreciate and even delight in the ecstatic wag of a dog’s tail and other such ubiquitous signals, I doubt if you have discovered your own soul."
https://cac.org/the-soul-of-all-things-2016-11-11/
