Your Pet Tributes

by Tom Martin
(Beaufort, SC USA)

"Hide and Seek with Sam"

Sam taught me to love, unconditionally, by forgiving me the mistakes I made, the way God does.

She slept in my bed, not because it comforted me at night, but because she wanted to (it comforted me at night, too).

When I was at work, she slept on the very spot I did (there are pictures).

She loved hanging out the car window; sometimes I adjusted the mirror so I could see her face being buffeted by wind, her ears flattened and her jowls all puffed up, and a look of joy on her face(there is a picture).

My sister says I took her everywhere, but too often I left her home, and her eyes always told me she wanted to go (exception: the vet’s office)

The orange cup she drank from in my car is mine, now (I washed it).

She loved the woods at Fort Fremont, every nature trail we went down, and she slept in my tent as often as I did.

While walking in the woods, Sam would rush ahead, chasing every noise or movement in the brush
and I would step behind a tree, or into a blind spot, playing “hide and seek”.

When she realized I wasn’t behind her, she would come running back to “find” me, and only once did I hide so well that she went home, waiting on the steps when I returned.

She usually found me easily, and for the rest of our walk, she would take a few steps, turn her head back to check on me, and then go forward.

She understood the game, (her smile told me) and we played often.

I wonder where she is, now, and if I’ll see her again.

God, please hear my prayer, and Amen.