Norm the Wonder Dog

Dearest Trick~

In June of 2009 we became parents not of a baby, but our fur baby (who was not a puppy but an older doggie) and the DeVeny Duo became a trio! Norm the wonder dog wagged into lives and hearts. The dream you had since childhood to have a dog became a reality and I got to view it all. I got to watch you teach our new family member how to sit, cross the street, follow directions… but I think what I really saw was Norm teaching you. He taught you that you were needed by more than just me. He taught you that even a dog can be a Cubs fan. He taught you that snow was much more fun to play in then rain. You two were instantly two peas in a pod. They say a dog is a man’s best friend and Norm was 100% yours. From the moment he put his paw up on the glass door “adopting us” it was hard to ever see Patrick without Norm right behind. What joy having a pet, having a fur child, having Norm has been to us as a couple.

Since you have gone to heaven Norm has suffered, I will not lie. Every night he does “his rounds” looking and waiting for you to walk through the door. He waits in breathless anticipation for his daddy to come home and rub his belly. I try to tell him that you can’t come home, sometimes I think he understands ~ sometimes I think he has hope that this is all a bad dream and daddy will sit and listen to a Cubs game on the back deck once again.

I thought how horrible it is that we were not lucky enough to have a baby together. After all the fertility treatments and trying that we were left wishing and dreaming that next month would be better. I found myself jealous of the other young widows that have children and get to see their husbands daily through their kid’s eyes. They get to hold on to a piece of a man that is now gone. I do not have that. And today I realized I do. When I cry at night it is Norm that comes quietly and lies on the floor next to my bed. When loneliness encapsulates all that I am, Norm simply comes over and lies at my feet putting one paw on my knee ~ as if he is reminding me that all is okay. He requires me to get out of bed and outside into the fresh air daily, even if I only want to hide, I can’t because I have him. It is as if you left me purpose by making sure when you left Norm was there for me. Sometimes when he looks at me with his big brown eyes, when he holds a stare as if he is looking into my soul, I feel like it is YOU looking at me once again. And so I sit, I pet Norm and I miss you. I hope that this holiday season people walk down our path and adopt a DOG (not a puppy) from a shelter. Sending wagging tails and love from here to you.

Around the world and back again~