I love the velvety purple stalks of Mexican sage. It heralds fall; its amethyst hues offset by the season’s golden leaves. A perennial in most gardens – but not in our Homeward Bound Memorial Garden. It is too wet in winter, and too hot in summer. The clay soil and baking sun are too much for this tough, but not quite tough enough, sage.
The first three seasons, I moved it to different spots in the garden hoping I would find just the right home for it to thrive. But no amount of pampering made a difference. It was magnificent in fall and gone by spring, never to sprout again.
Now, I treat it as an annual. I find a spot where it can be spectacular while enjoying and enhancing the company of others.
And when it is finished blooming, I thank it for its beauty, plant spring bulbs over it, and bid it a fond adieu.
Despite our best efforts, some things we love are not meant to be with us for long. I think that only makes them more precious.
Lindsey was our miracle puppy. Born an insulin-dependent diabetic, she should not have seen a few weeks much less nearly a year.
“She’s going to break your heart,” our Doc said. It is a kind way of saying ‘let her go.’ If Lindsey had been in pain, we would have seen the wisdom in that. But while Lindsey was a perpetual tiny girl…
she was happy and loved and fawned over until she left us as suddenly as she came to us – passing quietly away in the night.
Cavanaugh is 14.
Karma, only eight.
Both were left in shelters with terminal medical issues. For both, their time is likely measured in weeks, maybe months, but not years. Both were deserving of a much better ending. So they came to us and we were told, “just love them and spoil them.”
This is one of the most important gifts we can offer. Without any expectation that they will see the coming spring, we can be there for them when they need us most.
Karma will be going home this week. We call it hospice foster, matching special needs dogs with extraordinary angels who know that it is not the number of days that count, but the quality of our time together.
It’s hard to love them so when you know the time is short. Still, because the time is short, it is impossible not to love them even more.
“Every blade in the field, every leaf in the forest, lays down its life in its season, as beautifully as it was taken up.” ~ Henry David Thoreau
Dogs, like people, do not come with expiration dates. Love while you can. Live every day. Give what you are able knowing that you made a difference. You never know how something beautiful will be reborn.
Gardens For Goldens 