HEART....

Is where the home is. I know, I know, you’ll say I have the ‘spression backwards. But for us dogs, this is how we think and feel. And maybe, you humans could take a lesson from this. I mean, think about it. What does the original saying really mean? Home is where the heart is. That, even though you might be in a good place, it’s not home because your “heart” isn’t there. Your heart isn’t in it. That’s sad, because you can’t enjoy where you are because you’ve left your heart somewhere else.

This subject came up on our car drive “home” the other morning. Home, being Dayton, but “home” has been, to Mom at least, Marquette. And she gets sad, sometimes, when she thinks of “home”. I barked at her about how silly that thought is, though. I mean, isn’t home where WE are, and where dad is too? She just growled at me. I was actually pretty hurt. *Whine* But I think I made my point.

Mom and Dad have some friends that have lived in the same town two times, each time for several years. They own a house. Their best friends are here. But their hearts have always been in another state. So to them, that is “home”. And they’ll never be content because they’re not “home”. However, sometimes people don’t leave their hearts in a certain place. Their heart is always in their home because they take it with them. They call home every place they go because they don’t long for something they’ve left behind. That’s a good thing…

Now, us dogs? Well, reverse the expression. Heart is where the home is. We are so grateful for a home, for someone to love us, that we will put our heart into the home that is given us. I was reminded of it recently when we had little, tiny Eliza Doolittle stay with us. Poor Eliza. Who knows what her real name was. Mom picked her up from a pound on the day she was to be euthanized. She was found at a donut store. No tags. Pretty skinny. No hair. Very smelly. “Not adoptable” said the pound. Not adoptable? That’s just wrong, but I digress, as always. Well, some nice people in Canada saw her on the internet and begged for her safety. Mom went and got her for them.

And renamed her Eliza because, as mom said, she really will be a pretty little thing and has a lot of potential…she just needs work. But y’know what? Our home became Eliza’s and she gave us her heart. Heart is where her home is. She was really affectionate. She was grateful. She was playful and happy. She didn’t pine for something in the past. She didn’t leave her heart somewhere else. She gave it to us. So when it was time to send her on her way, we were sad (well, not really, but mom sorta was), but Eliza was ok. ‘Cuz Eliza was going to give her heart to her new home. And when Eliza goes on her way again to her final home, she’ll give her heart to them. Because….her heart is where her home is.

Just the other night, we saw Sydney and Boomer again. Syndey, he’s had it pretty tough. He, like my siblings, is still showing signs of a hard life. But as Sydney’s mom and I discussed, he’s doin’ pretty good right now. It is due to having a great home. And his heart is there. Doesn’t matter he’s been in a bunch of houses or places, his heart is where mom and dad and siblings are now. His heart is where his home is.

And that’s no different for any of us in my home. It was tough on all of us to be bounced around. The first day I was at mom and dad’s house (my second home) I ran away. Poor baby Ditto went from home to farm to kennel to home to mom and dad’s, all before he was 6 months old. He was so scared. Sophie lived on the streets for at least a year if not more, raising pups and foraging for food. To this day she can’t eat normally, like me (then again, no one eats like me!). Gracie, our current foster, has been abused, scared, yelled at. But all of our hearts are here, even Gracie’s. Our hearts are where our home is now. The day will come when our foster Gracie will go to her new home.  Her heart will end up there…..

We live in the present, enjoying each moment. We don’t pine for the old home, the other family, the way it was, even if it was, at one time, good. We love who we are with now and what happiness we have now. For many of us, who knows what tomorrow will bring. And for many of us, yesterday is gone—good or bad—it’s gone. So…heart is where the home is…and we’re very happy to give it away to the home we’re in. So…where is your heart?

Thanks for reading everybody. Hope you were “bearmused” today.