A Time to Hold and a Time to Let Go: To Rosie

 There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:

A right time for birth and another for death…
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go…

Ecclesiastes 3:1-6 (The Message)

I remember meeting her for the first time. My mom had seen her on the humane society’s website and asked me to check her out. She just had a feeling Rosie would be a good fit for our family.

They led me into the family room with her and she was so calm, so serene. While other dogs jumped and barked and peed all over the room, she allowed children to pet her. While in the family room, she sighed and placed her head on my knee. In that moment, she won my heart completely. I placed the deposit and called my mom to come get her.

Though I was in college when she joined the family, every time I came home Rosie greeted me as if I had raised her. Her tail would fly and her body would fold in half in my arms as we greeted one another. I thought when we moved to Colorado she would forget me, but no. Every time I came home, she loved me. And I loved her.

I remember her coy looks, her begging my dad for food (who always gave her a little something and trained Jack to as well). I remember her pushing her way under our feet at the table or next to the couch. She would run hard next to my husband whenever he took her out – whether she could manage it or not.

And the cabin – oh the cabin! You could not say the word without her running to jump into the back of the van. As we packed the vehicle, she would beat the suitcases into it, terrified that we might not take her to her heaven. And when we arrived, she tore down that steep hill to the beach. Within moments she was up at the top again, dripping and smelling of fish.

This summer, it was clear her strength was fading. She struggled to stand. She could hardly walk. Yet when we went to the cabin, she still raced to the water. And she faced the consequences. I thought she wasn’t going to last the weekend as she lay in the grass, her chest heaving for lack of breath.

Before flying home, I said goodbye. I knew it was the last goodbye.

Though she was not really my dog, I held her in my heart. She was so so good. The perfect fit for our family.

A girl’s best friend.

Today I say goodbye for good.

And I let go of you, entrusting you to the Lord, who created you.

We love you, Rosie.

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.

– Jesus (Matthew 10:29 NIV)

(Confession to my Five Minute Friday friends: this took a little longer than 5 minutes. Rosie deserved it.)