Paws In Heaven

For as long as I can recall, I have thought Siberian huskies were the most beautiful of all dog breeds. One of the earliest ‘dreams’ I told Aaron I had was that I wanted to own one someday. 13 years ago, that happened. We found a litter of pups, went out to see them, and one of them fell asleep in Aaron’s hand. They are not wrong when they say the dog picks you, you don’t pick the dog.

The pups had been given temporary names, and ours was named Desoto. We couldn’t find a name that we liked any better, so it stuck. And oddly enough, the first home we bought together was in “Desoto’s addition” to the town in which we lived. It was fate!

We can confirm that everything they say about a husky is true! Well, almost. They howl. They are stubborn. They shed (twice a year for six months at a time). They are smart. And their blue eyes will stare directly into your soul until you give them that piece of cheese you are holding. They say they are very active and are expert escape artists, but we, fortunately, didn’t experience any of that with Desoto. What we did experience was 13 years of unconditional love.

Aaron had several surgeries on his ankles and ‘Dr. Desoto’ was his faithful companion. We were blessed with being owned by Desoto’s mom for a few years before she crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Watching them together playing in the yard was one of our favorite past-times. He never met a tennis ball he didn’t want to destroy. And he knew without a doubt that every visitor that came to the house was there to see him. To our children, he was ‘buddy’. He made the house feel like a home.

The hardest thing about owning a husky, or any other breed of dog, is the goodbye at the end. He gave our lives so much love. He hasn’t left us. He has simply gone ahead to reunite with his mom, Di, and his brother, Kyzer. I know when the time comes, he will once again be waiting to greet us at the door, singing his song of joy and wagging his tail. A kind of love like that never dies.