The author C.S. Lewis once noted, “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”
And that is why, even though we are well past traditional retirement age, a puppy in Stowe, Vermont, will shortly take up residence at our little hobby farm in Greenville’s Apple Valley.
For us, this newly-minted critter will be Tibetan Terrier No. 4, our first two having crossed the Rainbow Bridge and No. 3, a charming girl of 8, still very much with us.
Why Tibetan terriers?
This intelligent, independent, and somewhat rare breed has been with us ever since our honeymoon, when we crossed paths with an abandoned, mud-caked pup outside our Best Western Hotel in remote Northern New York.
No one claimed her after local advertising, so we took her home, named her Best Western Orphan Annie (Westy to her friends), and enjoyed her hi-jinx and affection for 16 years.
Her successor, our beloved Buddy, died several months ago just shy of his 11th birthday, leaving his co-conspirator, Pixie, bereft of a canine companion.
This is why two folks well on in years faced contradictory thoughts: How impractical to start over with a pup at our ages – but how deep the yearning for that special love only dog people would recognize.
The author Gene Hill put his finger on it when he observed, “Nobody can fully understand the meaning of love unless he’s owned a dog. A dog can show you more honest affection with a flick of his tail than a man can gather through a lifetime of handshakes.”
The actress Doris Day said it this way: “I have found that when you are deeply troubled, there are things you get from the silent devoted companionship of a dog that you can get from no other source.”
A dog’s sincerity, in contrast to the lack of it in some human quarters, attracted the attention of French President Charles de Gaulle, who who once declared, “The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.”
Echoing that thought, Harry Truman advised, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.”
So this we are doing, in Stowe because the town holds Wendyll, one of the few Tibetan breeders in New England.
Wendyll is particular about who gets to take her pups home, so an in-person audience with her was required. She scrutinized us while checking how the chosen pup, not yet weaned, would react.
He snuggled lovingly into my wife’s chest, signaling that when we collect him several weeks hence he is indeed prepared to be a bosom buddy.
In memory of our own sorely missed Buddy, we have decided our new little guy will be “Pal,” the synonym suggestive of his predecessor while providing him an identity of his own.
This is as it should be. Novelist Erica Jong even put it into words: “A new dog never replaces an old dog – it merely expands the heart.”
And no matter what our ages, it’s never too late for that.
Gerry Goldstein (gerryg76@verizon.net), a frequent contributor, is a retired Providence Journal editor and columnist. Should the need arise, plans are in place for the future care of Pixie and Pal.
