Happy Seymour Day
It came to me that every time I lose a dog they take a piece of my heart with them. And every new dog who comes into my life gifts me with a piece of their heart. If I live long enough, all the components of my heart will be dog, and I will become as generous and loving as they are.
― Unknown Author
When we adopted Seymour from the Humane Society, we only had a vague idea of his age and even less of an idea of what his birthdate was. His description was, "an eightish-year-old pug/poodle cross." Looking at his vet records, we guessed that he was probably born in 2010 and his birthdate was sometime in March.
Today is the one year anniversary of when we brought Seymour home. So we figured that today was as good as a birthday as you can get. Happy Seymour Day, everyone. He is thrilled, as you can see:
This week as also the hubby's birthday, and we had decided a few weeks ago that it would be a good weekend to get out of town and go somewhere for the weekend. We booked a dog-friendly hotel room in Victoria, and on Friday morning, we set off on our trip:
The hotel provided a bed, some dog bowls and some treats. There was even a doggy room service menu!
Seymour preferred his own bed, where he waited patiently for the concierge to bring his order:
Another reason we chose this weekend was that we were hoping it would be warm and dry and sunny enough to walk around the city with our dog and not have to tuck him into the car every time we wanted to get a bite to eat. Even though there was definitely a nip in the air, we were lucky enough to see blue skies and sun, enough to find benches to sit together and eat our takeout sandwiches from Murchies and to wander around looking into shops:
On Saturday, we sauntered down into Beacon Hill Park:
Victoria is always the first city to go into bloom around here, and it did not disappoint:
And the water was calm and blue. A few degrees warmer and we could have fooled ourselves that we were in California:
Seymour enjoyed a bit of beachcombing:
But he enjoyed trying out the hotel bed even more:
I really can't believe it's already been a year with him. I still hold Rascal in a firm place in my heart, and while I do find myself comparing them with each other, I know for sure that Seymour is his own little personality. He loves all people, children especially. And he keeps surprising me every day. I was so sure he hated German Shepherds because he barks furiously at the one across the street, but this weekend he had a lovely, gentle encounter with one on the beach. I guess I don't have to like everyone I meet, so why should he?
I was so afraid to let another little dog into my heart, and I admit that I still fear the day that I will have to say goodbye to him. But I know for sure that this time, however long it is, is totally worth it. He's been by my side through some tough things this year: through job changes and house moves and family issues and burned cookies (he was especially helpful with that). There really is nothing more special than the companionship of a dog.
And it's true that I hope to be half the person my dog thinks I am. He's the only one who convinces me, even with all my faults and mistakes, my bad decisions and my even worse reactions, that I am a worthwhile person to be around. I'm so grateful for his gentle snuggles and for his silly antics.
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