Dog Goodbyes…

We sit at Cafe 115 at the Oakwood Residence in Hyderabad. It’s our last day here. Moksha gets picked up in about 4 hours, then I leave later in the night. This morning we did our morning walk at JOC (our apartment complex) and she did her final sniffs on the turf grass. We would sit here in the early morning before the temps got too hot and just be, then we’d come back in the later evening when the kids were gone and Mok could play ball.  

This morning, walking past the pool, I assumed she’d want to sit on the front steps of B Block to watch for friends. That is when she saw him… Saran had brought Iris our for his morning walk. She took off running, dragging me and the tightly-held leash behind her. One of Moksha’s favorite things to do was give Iris kisses. I even attempted to take a selfie with Piyu, Aura and the dogs a few days ago, and it was impossible. Between Mok trying to kiss me and Iris, it was a futile attempt that produced some really bad, but memorable pics.

So this morning as she saw him, she got to him and leapt into his face to give him kisses. It was the most pure form of love and goodbyes. She knew…I could see it on her face. There was joy that she got to do it her way, without all the humans trying to tell them what goodbye should look like.

 

Friendship comes in many beautiful forms. These two have been loyal to each other since they met. As the elder, she has been his protector. When it was time for a visit Mok would scratch at their front door to get their attention – her own form of a doorbell. They’ve had countless walks, they’ve sat and judged the other neighborhood dogs, they’ve learned how to get the annoying kids to leave them alone, and they’ve established their own form of communication between each other that is amazing to watch. I suppose that is the one lesson we have both learned. Language is never a barrier. We are all the same and we just have to be able to pay attention to others in order to understand them.

This was the best pic I could get of us. It is perfect. This has been my family here; we are forever grateful for the laughter, the buttermilk, treats (both human and dog), and most of all the friendship. We can’t wait to see them again.