Forever Dog

I’ve been around a few decades now, and as another birthday comes around, I find myself reflecting on the senior stages of a pet’s life.

Bromley is my “forever” dog. I adopted him at nine months old in 1999, which means his 10^th birthday just passed. He’s had this angelic peacefulness about him since the day he came home – which, trust me, was not the image he was portraying at the Humane Society. People have complimented him and even stopped traffic to meet him over the last 10 years. The major issue with this dog is, in fact, that no other dog will ever be able to fill the same monumental space Bromley has left in my heart.

Bromley saw me through the open land of Vermont and the pavement of Boston. He watched relationships come and go (and come back again). He put up with me when I worked all day and went for a Masters degree at night, and he obligingly wooed my parents for a year when I had to leave him.

Photographing a pet is one way to hold on to them, and I have seen beautiful paintings and sketches as well. It’s one of those things you mean to do but perhaps, like us in the past, don’t get around to it. There’s also the question of whether you want to remember your pet in his younger, spunky days or whether you will appreciate the memory of the graying whiskers and mature eyes of his later years.

As I schedule photo sessions this summer, I hope to always give senior or ailing pets the greatest priority possible. And I’m making a personal note to spend some quality time alone with my forever dog, Bromley.