Izzy, Emma (on her sheepskin throne, reserved for her) reunited in Burnt Hills, N.Y.
I want to be Audrey and Ron’s dog.

May 17, 2008  – Raining, cool.
 The dog world in America is a complex place, filled with love, emotion, loss and confusion. Sometimes its intensity seems overwhelming to me, especially as the love of dogs seems to be growing so rapidly in a culture whose people are often so disconnected from one another.
  There are a lot of sad endings in the dog world, and a lot of needy people. And there are lots of happy endings, and some wonderfully sweet and loving people.
  Tonight, I had the pleasure of seeing one of the happy endings and some of the great people.
  For five years, Izzy and Emma lived on a farm occupied mostly by a caretaker and they inhabited a fenced-in yard with a dog house modeled after a home.
  But it was not a home, in any real sense of the word, and the two wandered their enclosure alone for years, watched over by a caretaker, and then entered the world of dog rescue where some loving and slightly daft people made it their mission to find good homes for these two  creatures, and badgered me for weeks to go see them. I am grateful they did.
  Both dogs ended up on my farm, each a wreck in different ways. Izzy changed my life, teaching me that one can, in fact, have more than one lifetime dog, and bringing me to Hospice work, among other things. Izzy came off of his farm bedraggled but healthy, Emma was an emotional and physical mess, an anxious but loving creature with all sorts of health problems.
 I knew almost from the first that I would keep Izzy, even as he nearly destroyed my house, my life and my yard. I also knew that once Emma’s many health problems were cleared up, I would train her and look for another home for her.
  I have always been idiosyncratic about keeping dogs – if they are right for me, they stay forever – if not they are entitled to be with someone else, and I am entitled to have a different dog. Some people see that as callous, even heretic, but to me it is the essence of love.
    The feelings that sometimes surround dog rescue are almost electric, they are so potent, but seeing these two dogs, I kept thinking, you have to tip your cap to these people. It took a lot of work by a lot of people to get these two deserving animals into the lives of people who needed them, and are enriched by them, and all honor to them.
    So after Emma’s vasculitis, kidney problems, chronic urinary accidents, Lyme Disease and other issues were treated by Dr. Jeff Meyer, my vet, and mostly cleared up, I offered her to my friend Audrey Aosterlitz, as conscientious and sensitive a dog lover as I know. She and her friend Beth have visited me, met me at readings, corresponded with me by e-mail and become valuable friends. Audrey had to work hard to acclimate Emma also, and she did, and she was delighted to see how smitten Ron was with this dog from the first. A hundred times tonight, he looked at Emma, and said in wonder, “look how beautiful she is, look how sweet! What a wonderful dog!” I would love to be Ron and Audrey’s dog.
   Last night, Audrey invited me to dinner, along with Beth, and said she wanted me to see Emma in her new home, with her  husband Ron, new to dog love, but making up for lost time. I don’t socialize much, and the farm is a tough place to leave these days, for all sorts of reasons, and Audrey sensed I could use a visit also.
   Poor Emma, who had so many hard years  has finally hit the jackpot, and is living her life, and then some. This dog, all heart, has paid her dues. Often, when dogs pay their dues, they pay with their lives. Emma has gained a life, one with a fairy tale ending.
   She has a fleece-lined crate, and her own sheepskin-lined chair, her throne from which this odd creature whimpers and talks.
  What a happy dog. How loved. Ron is crazy about her, and takes her everywhere. She has what she wants, far from her lonely life on that farm, or the crazy life on this one (she hates sheep, four-wheeling, running, ball-chasing, cows and donkeys), to a life with people around her 24 hours a day, seven days a week. She goes with Ron on his chores, goes with Audrey to work, sits on her throne and awaits hugs, walks, admiration and a rain of biscuits (too many – she is a bit tubby). There could not be a better home for this dog than with Audrey and Ron.
  Izzy has also come far from his farm, also. He is a wonder, at ease anywhere in the world, always by my side,  a marvel in Hospice work, almost a part of me and such an integral part of my life it is hard to imagine it without him. I use to often ask “where’s Izzy?,” until I eventually realized that he was always by my side.
  So tonight, Izzy and Emma were reunited for the first time since Emma left. People like to project all sorts of emotions onto dogs, but one of the things I love about them is that they are the most adaptable of creatures, and among the most Darwinian. That’s why many of them do so well, and why we love them so much.
  Emma, who shared so many lonely years with Izzy, barely gave him a nod, she was so busy cuddling with Ron and being tended to by Audrey. Izzy looked at her, sniffed and went to sleep in a corner. So much for this emotional encounter. And what, after all, does Emma need with Izzy, or him with her? Dogs are not like us, they don’t cling to things they don’t need.
  Yet it was emotional, and very beautiful to see. For several hours, we talked about our lives, our dogs, and I couldn’t help thinking as I got up to leave, that I had witnessed the best parts of love in the dog world, and was seeing one of those happy endings for Izzy and Emma, for dogs and for people that speak to the best and most loving parts of us, that renew hope and faith, and justify both.