Charlie (and musings on branches of meaning)

"Charlie" - acrylic on aquabord,
​16" x 20".  SOLD.

This week went to the dogs.  And also went with them, to a heavenly dog park with treat-laden bushes and never ending games of fetch.

Meet Charlie.  He was adopted at an old, old age.  Deaf, blind, incontinent and failing, he recently went to that great dog park in the sky at the truly advanced age of seventeen. 

This handsome boy's favorite pastime was draping himself over the furniture like a wet noodle.  Charlie was both the color and consistency of pancakes.  Yet he was the lead dog in a house of many, and the other full-sensory dogs followed HIM out of the house each day.  Charlie was a good leader, right until the end.  I am honored to  have been commissioned to paint this sweet boy as a keepsake for his family.

"Liam" - painting by Brit Tate

My own daughter's rambunctious puppy, Liam, ended his earthly journey this weekend, after a long struggle with uncontrollable epilepsy. He went on his own terms, in her arms.  

​We want to spare our children from this kind of pain and grief, yet we are helpless to do so.  We cannot stand in the face of suffering in their places when life launches ugly bombs.  We can only listen and love.

My daughter's life journey, much like my own, has been filled with mountains to climb.  The universe has great confidence in her strength - and this weekend I saw that strength in action.  #proudmama.

Mark Nepo (oh yes, still stumbling my way through The One Life We're Given) said this: "No one knows how to live or how to die.  We only know how to love and how to lose, and how to pick up branches of meaning along the way."   These were not my own furry sweetlings, yet there are branches of meaning for me in these encounters - a reminder of the fragility of life and love - the need to grab and hold and love and cherish right now.