Rest in Peace, Togo Rio Grande

Once upon a time there was a young family who moved from California to Colorado.  Their children were very sad because they had to move so far from their friends and family.  They begged and begged for a puppy of their very own.
 

 One night, while their parents attended a charity auction at the Inn of the Rio Grande, they impulsively bid on a purebred beagle puppy. To their delight, they won the bid and couldn't wait to bring this puppy home to their children.  They named him Togo Rio Grande....a noble name for a noble dog.  Togo was a family name as well and came with an array of stories describing brave and loyal acts.

 These naive parents sometimes regretted this decision in the beginning.  Their new puppy wasn't potty trained as they had been led to believe, and they spent more than one occasion cleaning up accidents in the house.  In addition, Togo chewed through many rescue heroes and barbies before he grew out of the puppy stage.  For some time, he believed his name was Togo Leave-it.

But despite these challenges, Togo provided so much joy and laughter to this little family and was always on the perimeter of the action....that is when he didn't follow his nose into trouble.

Togo, and their cat, Alli were never friends, but they were able to achieve an uneasy truce in the sunshine during the winter months. 

This little family continued to grow and their little girl Danielle fell in love with Togo before she could even crawl.  They became good pals and were generally nearby each other.

Somehow, time has a way of speeding up and this family started to grow.  They moved from their childhood home to a new state and adjusted to Oregon.  Life went faster and faster and often they took Togo for granted.  He mellowed out and spent lots of time sleeping and lying in the sun.

During Christmas break of 2015, Togo stopped eating as much of his food and slept more than usual.  But this busy family didn't seem to notice the changes because they were so subtle.

They finally realized the week of Valentine's Day 2016 that one of their great loves was dying of kidney failure.  They suffered and grieved as they watched him weaken but never lose his dignity.  He was loyal to the end and a regal beagle!

This family was changed by owning such a good dog, and they appreciated him all the more when he was no longer with him....but he will always be part of their family and in their hearts.

Breadth vs. Depth

I often struggle with balancing my desire to learn new things with my desire to become more proficient at the things I have already started learning.  I want to improve my skills on the piano, yet I would love to learn to play the guitar.  I would like to become more skilled at knitting, but I would still love to learn a foreign language.  I feel a desire to practice writing and yet want to read more books than there is time for.  I want additional training as a counselor but need to be there for my kids during their formative years.  Inside there is always a struggle for competing desires in finite time.

Sadly, we are limited in our time and must balance our competing wishes.  All the way through my 30's I felt that with enough practice I could do anything I want.  Now that I am older I am realizing that I have finite time and energy and must be more choosy about what is really important to me.  The hard thing for me is deciding what I really want to do.  I want to do everything!  But alas, I can't.  So I sometimes become paralyzed by indecision and do nothing.

It reminds me of the parable of the talents.  I suppose it should be good enough for me to use my talents the best I can, double them and improve myself so that the Lord will tell me that I have done well and am a good and faithful servant. 

I have resigned myself to the fact that I will never be great at any one thing.  I won't be the best counselor, author, mother, leader, friend, wife, knitter.  But I will try my best to continue to improve myself, and I will hopefully always be progressing in one way or another.  My hope is that when I am too old to see or move around on my own that I will be able to sit back and feel joy over the well-spent years that I enjoyed (that is as long as I'm not afflicted with Alzheimers).  And who knows, maybe this dog can still learn new tricks!