Opinion from the doghouse  


---

You're home now, Bear 
By Dog X Putnam Pit opinion editor C. 1997 The Putnam Pit

On the farm where I live there is a small knoll where my brother Bear and I like to play. From the vantage point there we are able to keep watch over all the goings on at our place. Our knoll is a spot where we feel secure and protected, where it seems that we can see all and hear all. 

On warm sunny days when we are feeling lazy, Bear and I like to stretch out on our knoll and let the sunshine soothe us. On days when we are feeling frisky we enjoy wrestling and chasing one another across the thick green grass that carpets our knoll. 

This knoll of ours is a place of dreams. It is a place where we have planned days of exploration and relived days of adventure. Our knoll is a special place where we know things are going to be okay and where we can always be together. 

Last Thursday I waited for Bear at the knoll. Afternoon turned into evening and still I watched and waited. In my loneliness I noticed how strangely cold and silent the knoll had become. I missed Bear. This was the first time in my life my that he was not standing close beside me. I raised my ears and listened intently to each faint new sound. I expected that at any moment Bear would rush in and pounce upon me, wrestle me to the ground, and take off expecting me to chase after him. 

It was almost dark when my human arrived home. I greeted him alone. He called for Bear but he did not answer. I sensed his concern for Bear. He was up many times that night checking to see if Bear had returned home. Late into the night I heard my human come out on the porch and call for Bear. The next day my human and I went into the fields and searched the entire farm with a prayer and a hope that we would find Bear. 

At the center of that sunny knoll where Bear and I loved to play there is an especially beautiful spot where tiny purple wildflowers stretch to peek above lush green grass and a wild rose grows. In that peaceful spot, my human, Cheyenne (my mom), and I laid Big Barney Bear, my gentle brother, to rest. 

A large gray stone from the field where Bear and I loved to roam serves as his headstone. My human planted flowers for Bear and I left my paw print in the fresh dirt. Nearby daylilies will soon produce big orange blossoms that will be with Bear throughout the summer. No doubt the wild rose will be at its finest this season. 

You are home now Bear. Every day I'll lay beside you here on our knoll. You and I will continue to keep watch over all the goings on at our place. This is our special place where things are going to be okay and where we can always be together. 

I love you Bear.