She was a beautiful puppy with one floppy ear. Beautiful but not perfect. We loved her just the same. Greg faithfully massaged the floppy ear when he heard that might help it stand up. Kanti loved the attention and I don't believe she ever felt she was less than perfect in Greg's eyes. He would talk to me about her floppy ear, wondering if it would ever stand up. Sometimes, I would catch him having a human nose to dog nose conversation regarding the ear. He'd ask her why it was floppy and if it was ever going to stand up. There was something about the floppy ear that was endearing. It took the scary out of the gigantic dog she was growing into. The ear began to respond at about the six-month mark.
As Kanti's confidence and sass expanded, her ear found the strength to stay up most of the time. When she was tired, it flopped but otherwise Greg was happy. Then we went away for the first time and left her with a caregiver. When we came home, the ear was flopped over. Lacking any reliable knowledge about dogs and their ears, we theorized that our leaving had been traumatic for her. For five years, the ear occasionally stood up straight but not consistently. We resigned ourselves to owning a floppy eared pooch with buckets of energy and love to share.
Six months ago, we noticed the ear was beginning to be more up than down. Nothing had changed in our world or Kanti's. Greg hardly dared to hope. We watched, we waited. Last night, while we were preparing supper Greg announced, "There's been a miracle, a miracle by the swake."
My first thought was the
Blindman Brew he was enjoying was too much for him. Second thought was we visited far too many old churches in Europe with claims to saints and miracles, and he had been influenced. Third thought was he is older than me and maybe senility had set in.
All those fleeting thoughts were lost in my laughter and disbelief. A miracle? By the swake? Someone else in Alberta won the sixty million last week, not us. No miracle here. The lottery win would have required buying a ticket, so if we had won without a ticket that truly would have classified as a miracle. Ironically, I am frequently accused by my loving husband of hyperbole and embellishing my writing with imagination. Yet, here he was declaring a miracle involving Kanti's floppy ear.
Miracle or not, the ear rarely flops anymore. It seems she might have outgrown it or maybe she grew into it. Was the floppy ear reflective of the angst of her teenage years and the uncertainty of young adulthood? Has she grown into herself with enough confidence and chutzpah to carry off those big ears with style? Whatever happened, she looks fine and we love her anyway. Like Kanti, I'm still 'growing into my ears' how about you?
Happy Thanksgiving from the swake and its inhabitants!
Comments
Post a Comment