The weight of love

“Who, being loved, is poor?”

–Oscar Wilde

It’s no secret that I’m crazy about my dogs, Beau & Lola. They return my love tenfold, and I am definitely the richer for it.  And while they’re each special in their own ways, many are the times here at Chez Feinberg when our Chocolate Lab Beau dominates the stage.  He’s bigger, younger, goofier, and frankly just more ‘in your face’ most of the time than Lola, the lady of the house.

Last week, however, was different.  Last week Lola Bug was center stage.  Miss Thing had to go ‘under the knife’ to have her teeth cleaned and, unfortunately, several extracted, and I was as nervous as any mother can be.  Lola is generally a love about most anything I ask of her, but she *hates* having her teeth brushed, so it’s an ongoing battle to keep those little chompers clean, and it’s one that I was losing.  So….I (somewhat nervously) made the decision to have her teeth cleaned by our vet.

It’s not that I don’t trust our vet, I do.  But Miss Thing is a *little* thing, and the idea of subjecting her to general anesthesia always gives me pause.  I adore this little girl, she is my shadow, and the thought of anything going awry during her procedure gave me a lump in my throat I could scarcely stand.  Who knew that a package weighing just shy of 14 lbs. could deliver such a dollop of love?  But this little girl does.  She loves me like no other, and as long as I’m within her field of vision, she’s happy….and so am I.

I’m happy to report that Lola came through her cleaning with flying colors, bounced back from the anesthesia without incident, powered through a few days of painkillers, and is now once more fit as a fiddle and ready for love.  She’s small, but she’s mighty, and boy does she deliver.  As her idol Mae West was wont to say, “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”