May 23, 2015

White Dog and the rest of the White Dog Army have never been fond of Steve's early morning Saturday class. It is not that they mind getting up with him. Steve is an early bird and most mornings rises before the rooster crows (in my opinion) to put Puff in for a couple hours of oxygen therapy while he works at his computer or grades student work. Sachi and Siku regularly join him at these tasks. But there is something about the rush of rising, eating right away, and Steve's dashing off to be gone for the day.

After he leaves at 7:30 we, generally, all go back to sleep for a bit. It is sort of a recharging time. The neighborhood at this time on Saturday mornings is relatively quiet and of course, the shops a block away on Route 66 are not yet open. So we are undisturbed as we stretch out and give ourselves back over to the gentle sounds of the day awakening...and early morning lullaby.

As we got into comfy nap positions it occurred to me that this was the first time since nearly a week ago that we had naturally fallen into our "normal" routine. I smiled as I lifted my head to look around the room to see all of the White Dog Army calm and at peace. It did not cause tears as I thought, "Taiko, I know how you loved sleeping in." I smoothed the pillow and laid back.

Maybe we are all beginning to get used to the idea of Taiko's spirit (along with Quinn's, and Nuka's, Oso's and Darby's) rather than his physical reality. Maybe we are drawn to the idea of seizing life and not drowning in grief. Maybe we are beginning to understand and heal.

Time and love.