Maggie: A Memoir

I realize that a memoir is an account of ones life written by its subject, but seeing that Maggie didn't have thumbs, we're going to let this go. For my Toastmasters meeting this week I gave my initiation speech, also known as the "ice breaker". It had to be a type of introductory speech, and really, to understand me, I thought they might first need to understand Maggie.

She and I weren’t all that different really. We both liked shoes. Although mine usually found their way on my feet instead of my mouth. And my past roommates could attest to the fact that we both definitely didn’t get personal space.

 

I remember this one evening, my old roommate Melisa and her dog Cooper (pictured below) and me and Maggie were all on her bed talking about everything under the sun when Melisa just burst into laughter. I was confused at first and then she told me to just observe what was going on. Melisa, sitting with her legs held closely to her chest was in front of me and her dog Cooper was curled up in a ball sitting contently, untouched on the pillow next to her. Then there was me and Mags. I was lying on my back stretched out taking most of the space up on the bed and there was Maggie laying directly on top of me with her head nuzzled into my neck and her arms and legs falling to each side. We laughed at how perfectly our dogs represented us. 

 

Maggie and I both really adored Ben (I still do, don’t worry). When Ben and I got married, I was a little worried about Mags getting some kind of jealously or starting a rivalry because Ben would be taking her place in the bed. But that’s not what happened at all. She and I both was able to identify the ability Ben had to lead our family and the role God gave Ben as the head of our home. We both tried our very best to listen to Ben and give him that authority. We both have failed at certain times in that field, but I can surely confirm between the two of us, I’ve never peed on anything Ben owns and I’ve only run from him once when he asked me to come here. Together we worked on our stubbornness and pride.

 

There were also a few things that I hope to learn from Maggie. She was the most friendly and unreserved being you would have ever met. She didn’t let anything come in the way of being kind and loving and making you feel like you were the most important person in the room, whether it was just you or 20 people present. She was also forgiving. You could have forgotten her all day long in the crate, forgotten to feed her in the morning, yell at her when you tripped over her (even if it was your fault) and she’d always drawn near and forget 2 seconds after you had yelled at her that there was ever a raised voice.

 

Its hard when you lose a pet. They become a part of your family, they become one of the gang. Never would have I imagined that a dog would cross my path that so perfectly displayed both my own strengths and weaknesses all at the same time helping me to see them better and loving me unconditionally through it all.