Lost Dog

Lost dog--are there any sadder words? I read that posted on the telephone pole near my house, and there was a picture of a mournful beagle in black and white, fixing his gaze on me as I drove past. If you lose your dog, the world as you know it ends. None of the things you need to do are really needs. In fact, you forget all about them and focus on putting up contact information and pictures of your dog everywhere. Your kids go nuts. They won't go to soccer or ballet, instead they'll stay home and cry, call their friends and cry, post on Facebook and cry. They will somehow decide it's your fault, but that won't make you feel any worse than you already do.

I saw a documentary on the Katrina disaster in New Orleans. I felt terrible for the people, but the sign that really broke my heart was the huge black letters straggling over the white clapboard house: NO DOG FOUND. Three words carrying a whole tureen of grief. Movies sometimes capture this feeling. I still feel miserable each time I think about Sounder. He was a dog beloved by a sharecropping family's boy. The boy's dad stole food, was caught, and went to prison, and Sounder disappeared. The boy's dream about a happy return of both dad and dog was so heartbreaking. Where are my tissues?