Beau – the Doga of Yoda

Beaumont:   Louise. You know Nana’s going to be okay. Right?

Me:  How do you know?

Beau:  She’s walking to her Rainbow Bridge. That’s a cause for celebration. She’s had a good life.

Me:  Yes Beau. It is. (pause)  Ummm… How did you know?

Beau:  About Nana? Oh ye’ of little faith. How could I not? I am a dawg. My seventh sense is strong.

Me:  Seventh sense? What’s that?

Beau:  To see into the heart and soul of humans.

Me:  Oh. (at a loss for words, I pause while Beau sits on the chaise beside my desk watching me. I take a breath.)  And what does your seventh sense tell you today?

Beau:  That Bijoux is very excited to see her!

Me:  How do you know about Bijoux?

Beau:  Again with the lack of faith? Seriously Louise. You should know by now, I don’t just know things, I sense them.

Me:  Right. But seriously Beau. How do you know about Bijoux? He was our poodle growing up in Germany. He’s been gone for years.

Beau:  You know Louise the one’s we love are never gone. They’re just not here on earth. That’s all.

Me:  I hope that’s true Beau.

Beau:  Have faith Louise. Have faith. Nana does and look how peaceful she is in the quiet passing of her final days.

Me:  I’m working on it buddy.

Beau:  Faith isn’t something you work on. It’s something you choose. Perhaps it’s time to practice surrender.

Me:  Baby steps buddy. Baby steps.

Beau:  Ever thought of taking a giant leap?

Me:  I’m comfortable with my baby steps.

Beau:  Oh you hoomans. Always so afraid of letting go.

Me:  I’m not afraid of letting go. I just like holding on to what I know.

Beau:  Ever think that might be your problem? Holding on to what you know so there’s no room for what you don’t know to appear?

Me:  I don’t know.

Beau:   Right…. Here’s what I know. Bijoux is waiting on the Rainbow Bridge for your mom.

Me:  Anything else?

Beau:  There’s lots ‘else’. You able to make room for what you don’t know?

Me:  Of course. I like learning new things.

Beau:  Right. Says she who cannot admit she’s afraid of letting go.

Me:  Beau. Not right now, please.

Beau:  Ok. Ok. So… where was I? Right. Bijoux is waiting with your dad and brother and Nana’s mom and dad and brothers and sisters on the other side. They’re all standing on the Rainbow Bridge waiting to greet her. Even Ellie’s there Louise.

Me:  She is?

Beau:  Of course. On the Rainbow Bridge, there’s only Love and Ellie loved Nana too. Remember when she’d come for dinner and she’d always slip Ellie food from the table? Ellie remembers.

Me:  Lol. So do I. Even when I asked mom not to, she’d pretend not to hear me.

Beau:  She wasn’t pretending, Louise. She couldn’t hear.

Me:  Oh. Right. I didn’t think of that.

Beau:  See, that’s the problem with you hoomans. You think with your head and forget all about listening to the wisdom of your heart.

Me:  My heart is heavy right now Beau. There’s so much unfinished stuff between my mom and me.

Beau:  It’s just stuff of life Louise. It has nothing to do with Love. Right now, all that’s important are the matters of the heart. And Love is the story your heart knows best.

Me:  Thank you Beau. I needed your dawggie wisdom this morning.

Beau:  Anytime. Anytime. (pause. He opens his mouth wide and gives a big yawn.) Some call me Yoda. I prefer, Doga.  Wise Dog Who Knows. (He puts his head back down on his paws and closes his eyes.) Now I nap. Wake me when it’s time to go to the park.

And so, once again, Beau has the last word. But then, Beau knows best. Love is always the first and last word in life and death. Everything else is just stuff.

________________________________

My 97-year-old mother is slowly fading from this life. My sisters and I as well as my daughters have been spending as much time with her as possible so she knows she is not alone as she takes her final journey from this earthly plane to the ever-after.

Beau is great comfort. Every day when I come home he greets me with his wagging tail and slobbery kisses. He reminds me that all we can carry with us when we leave this earth for the Rainbow Bridge and all we can leave behind is Love. The rest is just stuff we can let go of or hold onto. 

I am practising letting go of the stuff and holding onto only Love.