that captured us all so well? hilda doesn't bring out the same kind of things in us as larry did and she is little and came up from the same LA shelter, in the same dire straights... people have a hard time even remembering her name and yet hilda is a great little dog too.
i remember the first picture i saw of him...sparce in the hair department with the big tumor dangling from his neck and i thought at the time, yep little buddy, for sure you look like a totally wrecked little saint. once he got here and i saw how he walked..toot-ta-toot-ta-toot...with his little stiff legged trot and his ears flopping like wings..i was completely hooked.
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for several long weeks larry was just here...he watched, he waited..he was thinking things thru. and while he was figuring us out, i was going out of my way to touch him, to tell him i loved him and to put all kinds of good cookies and crap right under his nose.
larry could not resist my attempts at bribery and soon i had hooked him back too. he started following me around...he became my computer buddy dog. as soon as i sat down, larry was up on the bed at my feet with his front feet on the chair between my legs getting his loving when he wanted it too....larry was home.
then we decided that larry could and should have more. colleen b absolutely adored him and offered larry a truly great home. who'd have thought larry wouldn't want this, who'd have thought that our placcid and accepting little guy would get all upset? but he did...and he communicated it the only way he knew how...by ripping apart the door jams...larry wanted to come home.
larry liked it here...good food and plenty of it..good people around him at all times...good dogs and cats to cuddle and sleep with...tons of activity for huge chunks of the day that he could participate in or just watch from his bed. everything that larry wanted, he already had. larry wasn't greedy...he did not need or crave to have everything that the world had in possibilities. he liked what he had. that was good enough for him to find happiness and larry was happy with that.
larry wasn't a gambler...he said stop, this is good enough when he found what he needed...how many of us are bright enough to do the same?
so while larry was happy here...he spread that happiness out to you and to me. and i think that is why larry had such a following...he was like a little glow worm..his satisfaction in life was contagious..he was peaceful and content..he was zen-like in some ways...everything was cool in larry's world.
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while we were at the vets (which larry was not happy about by the way....he wanted to go back home again in his own quiet way..he didn't like being out and about.)...anyway...i noticed how soft his skin and his hair had become. it wasn't all rough and spikey like it was when he came in. and i noticed how he had grown more too, he wasn't as sparce as he used to be. i saw how bright and alert were his eyes and and how thoughtful they were.
and i think i understand larry now. he was a dog who had seen the best and the worst parts of this world. and he knew what happiness meant to him. he dug himself his own little spot in to the heart of saints and he was more than content with that.
not everyone wants to have it all..larry wasn't interested in winning the lottery. he searched and he suffered til he found his comfort zone and then he wanted to keep it.
i think we all fell for larry..not just because he was adorable. but because larry found something that we are all still looking for..his very own, larry style, made to order, perfectly fitted larry-home.
and it was good enough for him.
there was a LOT of "aww"ing and laughing at seeing Larry- chugging with those stiff joints after those treats, loving his rolling, and those lovely gizmo ears.
"DUDE. you can ROLL on the blanket. BUT WAIT.... roll on the GRASS? AWESOME! And... and... you can do BOTH! LOOK! WhooWHUAAAAHAHA!"