Diana and I
Diana and I have been friends, best friends, for the past thirteen years. If anyone were to say, “They were made for each other” about us, it would not be far from the truth. If anyone were to say, “They depend on each other so much”, then this too would not be too far from the truth. I depend on Diana as much as she depends on me, and we offer each other whatever we can, whenever and wherever we can.
Diana is my chocolate brown doe eyed dachshund and her story is what I am about to tell.
The warm furry bundle of shivering puppy was placed in my arms by my cousin one night, saying that the pup was an orphan; her mother had just died. I was not sure whether I wanted or needed the added responsibility. We lived in a small house, my husband, me and our two kids, and the house was overrun with my children’s things, and the paraphernalia related to my work. I was a busy mom of two kids under five, with a growing career, and where would I find the time to take care of another? All this changed, however, when I took a long hard look at the sweet lovable puppy gazing soulfully at me through her melting brown eyes. I can honestly and truly say that something happened to me then-we connected, and from then on, I would be at her mercy for the next several years…
The little puppy soon became a big hit in our neighborhood of kids and young adults. Diana had become as much our child as our other two human kids! Amazingly easy to toilet train, Diana would communicate to me her need to ‘go’ and she would perform and get back in with no trouble at all. As for eating, I had warned her in advance, “This is a vegetarian household. You can have as many servings of vegetables as you want, but no meat,” to which she had seemingly agreed with two brisk shakes of her tail.
Things settled into a routine, and gradually, I started to depend on Diana for loving and affection at any time I needed it, which Diana provided unhesitatingly, with no restraints whatsoever. A compassionate soul, Diana often brought little injured birds, shivering kittens, home to me, her mommy and one day, she even brought home a goat kid that had apparently been lost and was wandering around the neighborhood. Diana insisted that I stop whatever I was doing to attend to these creatures; she made sure of this one thing. If I didn’t, she would paw at me, and bark continuously as if to say, “Mom! Can’t you see someone needs your attention now? Come on!” It was only after she was satisfied that her ‘babies’ had been taken care of that she would relax. Her look of gratitude was something that affected me deeply- never have I seen such a look on anyone’s face as I have on Diana’s face after one of her rescued creatures recovered enough to cuddle up with her…
Sweet Diana did the same to the kids, to my husband and to me, of course. Whenever she thought that one of us was down in the dumps, she sensed it immediately, and there she would come, with her own brand of home grown loving, making us forget our troubles and look at the brighter side of life again. Cuddling up to us, she would offer her warmth, her empathy and her love, unhesitatingly and unstintingly, for whoever happened to need it most.
It was when she started demanding way too much water to drink than was normal for a dog of her age, while at the same time losing weight rapidly that I knew something was wrong with her. A trip to the vet confirmed my fears- Diana was a diabetic, and her eyesight was failing.
Shocked, I felt I could not face this- our Diana, a gentle and compassionate creature, who had brought great love and brightened up all our lives, was going blind, and she would also suffer from her disease and need to be on regulated medication from then onwards. Sensing my depression as usual, the ever loving Diana came up to me, licked my tears away and cocked her head to one side as if to say, “Come on now! What is this? There are things to do! You don’t worry about me. I am fine!”
Pulling myself together, I set about preparing myself to face Diana’s blindness. I need not have bothered at all- the spirited creature that she was, Diana never did let anything get to her, and soon she learnt and mastered the technique of navigating around our house, without bumping into the furniture. The only concession she allowed herself was that she permitted me to carry her up and down the stairs, as it was too frightening for her to navigate the tall staircase with her short legs, especially at the corners. Otherwise, her life and ours continued as before. Apparently, her reputation as a compassionate and gentle creature had preceded her, and lonely abandoned kittens and injured birds inevitably made a beeline to Diana wherever she was.
There she lies now, basking in the sun, a bundle of chocolate brown fur, with the kittens from next door playing around her. If anyone were to say, “They were made for each other” about us, it would not be far from the truth. If anyone were to say, “They depend on each other so much”, then this too would not be too far from the truth.
My life would have been much poorer if I had not had Diana in it. These gentle creatures of God are capable of teaching us a great many lessons in life, and I, myself have learnt that I must share my love with others, so that it will multiply manifold and spread its wings gently over anybody who comes into contact with us. I thank God for giving me Diana to love and cherish.