Caillou became a part of my family when I was 16 years old, eager and excited to finally have a dog of my own. He weighed four pounds when we brought him home and never hit more than eight on the scale since.
He slept on my head, sat on my feet when I got ready for school everyday and loved to steal my mom’s slippers, my sister’s yarn. He was all the things a sweet young pup was supposed to be; absolutely adorable, loyal, innately mischievous. He was my first lesson in caring for someone other than myself, my first real experience nurturing another life, being responsible for another being.
After a few years I headed to college, leaving my little one behind, in the great care of my amazing mother, who loved him like her own. And her own he became, as I left for Los Angeles, to the next chapter of my young adult life.
Caillou continued to be my long distance love, with whom I never took for granted a chance to reunite with, beyond grateful for the strong attachment bond he formed with my mother and the joy he brought her as an empty nester.
Very recently, my mother and Caillou made the big move to join me in Southern California, for the next chapter of both our lives. For some time now, Caillou had a heart condition, but was doing well walking all over his new neighborhood or being pushed in a stroller, his face right under the sun.
A few weeks after their arrival, we spent an afternoon celebrating them at the beach and Caillou ran through the sand for the very first time in his life. He trotted, he laid, he stole several aspergus stalks from his new mother-in-law’s picnic blanket. He basked in the sunshine and ocean breeze, enjoying every little moment from his new little life in California.
And although this sad day came shortly after, I am at peace remembering him this way. Soaking up the moment, where he was the center of attention, thoroughly enjoying the time as the seconds passed by, knowing he fully lived his life among those who fully loved him.
There will never be a replacement for our little one, but there will be many memories of him we hold dear in our hearts.
There will never be a day like this day, seeing Caillou run and play, but there will be warm and happy moments forever attached to a beautiful beach day, knowing he was able to live out every day, like his last, his little heart beating just a tad too fast.
