The Journey  When you bring a pet into your life, you begin a  journey. A journey that will bring you more love and  devotion than you have ever known, yet will also test  your strength and courage. If you allow, the journey  will teach you many things, about life, about  yourself, and most of all, about love. You will come  away changed forever, for one soul cannot touch  another without leaving its mark.    Along the way, you will learn much about savoring  life's simple pleasures -- jumping in leaves, snoozing  in the sun, the joys of puddles, and even the  satisfaction of a good scratch behind the ears. If  you spend much time outside, you will be taught how to  truly experience every element, for no rock, leaf, or  log will go unexamined, no rustling bush will be  overlooked, and even the very air will be inhaled,  pondered, and noted as being full of valuable  information.    Your pace may be slower, except when heading home  to the food dish, but you will become a better  naturalist, having been taught by an expert in the  field. Too many times we hike on automatic pilot,  our goal being to complete the trail rather than enjoy  the journey. We miss the details: the colorful  mushrooms on the rotting log, the honeycomb in the  old maple snag, the hawk feather caught on a twig.     Once we walk as a dog does, we discover a whole  new world. We stop; we browse the landscape, we kick  over leaves, peek in tree holes, look up, down, all  around. And we learn what any dog knows that nature  has created a marvelously complex world that is full  of surprises, that each cycle of the seasons bring  ever changing wonders, each day an essence all its  own.    Even from indoors you will find yourself more attuned  to the world around you. You will find yourself  watching: summer insects collecting on a screen;  how bizarre they are; how many kinds there are or  noting the flick and flash of fireflies through the  dark. You will stop to observe the swirling dance  of windblown leaves, or sniff the air after a  rain. It does not matter that there is no objective in  this; the point is in the doing, in not letting  life's most important details slip by.    You will find yourself doing silly things that your  pet-less friends might not understand: spending thirty  minutes in the grocery aisle looking for the cat food  brand your feline must have, buying dog birthday  treats, or driving around the block an extra time  because your pet enjoys the ride. You will roll in the  snow, wrestle with chewie toys, bounce little rubber  balls till your eyes cross, and even run around the  house trailing your bathrobe tie with a cat in hot  pursuit, all in the name of love.    Your house will become muddier and hairier. You will  wear less dark clothing and buy more lint rollers. You  may find dog biscuits in your pocket or purse, and  feel the need to explain that an old plastic shopping  bag adorns your living room rug because your cat loves  the crinkly sound. You will learn the true measure of  love. The steadfast, undying kind that says, "It  doesn't matter where we are or what we do, or how life  treats us as long as we are together."    Respect this always. It is the most precious gift any  living soul can give another. You will not find it  often among the human race. And you will learn  humility. The look in my dog's eyes often made me feel  ashamed. Such joy and love at my presence. She saw not  some flawed human who could be cross and stubborn,  moody or rude, but only her wonderful companion. Or  maybe she saw those things and dismissed them as mere  human foibles, not worth considering,and so chose to  love me anyway.    If you pay attention and learn well, when the journey  is done, you will be not just a better person, but the  person your animal companion always knew you to be. The one they were proud to call beloved friend. I  must caution you that this journey is not without  pain. Like all paths of true love, the pain is part of  loving. For as surely as the sun sets, one day your  dear animal companion will follow a trail you cannot  yet go down. And you will have to find the strength  and love to let them go.    An animal companions time on earth is far too short,  especially for those that love them. We borrow them,  really, just for a while, and during these brief years  they are generous enough to give us all their love,  every inch of their spirit and heart, until one day there is nothing left. The cat that only yesterday was  a kitten is all too soon old and frail and sleeping  in the sun. The young pup of boundless energy now  wakes up stiff and lame, the muzzle gone to gray.     Deep down we somehow always knew that this journey would end. We knew that if we gave our hearts they  would be broken. But give them we must for it is all they ask in return. When the time comes, and the road  curves ahead to a place we cannot see, we give one  final gift and let them run on ahead, young and  whole once more. "God speed, good friend," we say,  until our journey comes full circle and our paths  cross again.      ~unknown~