The World According To Nick.....: Unconditional Love

How many times have you heard people talk about loving unconditionally only to see the opposite. Divorce happens.... fights, arguments, finances all can cause pains in a relationship.

I’ve always said that for someone to see what unconditional love looks and feels like, one needs to love a dog. Not just own it. Actually love it. When you do, you find a joy that nothing else can show, and heartbreak like you’ve never felt.

We picked up Sissy on a cool November morning. It was a Friday. I brought her back to the office after lunch and she slept right there until it was time for me to leave. I made the two and a half hour drive down to the house where my girlfriend (now wife) lived. This was our first “family piece”. The first togetherness if you will. She had a son and I a son and daughter. With no plans to have a kid together, Sissy was ours. Being a Neopolitan Mastiff, she fit us! Not highly energetic, perfect for a family unit and naturally protective. She was perfect.

She IS perfect.. It didn’t take long for Sarah to love her with everything she had, and Sissy to do the same.

As she grew, the expressions and Love compounded exponentially. At the time I worked all week out of town and was only here on the weekends. Yet, every friday evening when I arrived, Sissy didn’t miss a beat letting me know how proud and happy she was that I was home. She loved unconditionally.

Sissy became part of the family immediately!! Taking the kids to school, she followed Sarah wherever she allowed. Watched intently at anyone coming close to the kids or Sarah. A few times when she felt uneasy, she would get in the middle of Sarah and a stranger and push Sarah backwards toward the door. I loved this about her! Her natural instinct to know the shady people and get Sarah to a safe place, she is perfect in every way.

Now my heart breaks. I had to tell Sarah that Sissy has cancer. The best prognosis is 6 months and we make her comfortable with pain meds as best as we can.

I feel, at times, that I have not only brought unconditional love to the house, but have now caused eternal heartbreak. Everyone is devastated. We have cried until we think we cannot cry anymore and then we cry some more.

I have had many dogs in my life. None have affected me as Sissy has. We have decided that amputation and chemo would not be best for Sissy. It would prolong an agony she has already endured too long.

As we put Sissy to rest tomorrow, I will be losing a piece of our family. The first real piece of the family. With that, everyone will have heartache like they have never felt. I, myself, am utterly devastated. I expected bone and hip issues with a large dog, but I did not expect cancer. I am so sorry for the pain and heartache the kids and Sarah are enduring with all of this.

However, I also have never felt the unconditional love like this dog has shown. With terrible pain, she limps to be by us, if only to nudge with her nose and go lie down. The pounding of her tail when I enter the hallway after a late night sounds like a drum corps cadence pounding the pillow long before I ever make it to the room. She always gets up to greet me when I’m actually home on time, even if she just wants to sleep.

I don’t even know how I’m going to walk into the house anymore and not see or hear these things. Seven years was not enough...