How do dogs love us?

Alba told me pointedly that she "doesn't need me, silly silly 😒" while around us I could hear frenetic movement from her friends outside the room. I could hear them half complaining and half worrying "Why is Alba first? Behave, Alba! Hahaha!"

I laughed because I was confused. I mistakenly assumed that Alba was lonely. Alba is never lonely, for she owned this home, and that is why she called me silly twice. She lived with humans who understood her perfectly and with gremlins (dogs, actually), who were both her friends (everyday) and her herd (most days).

"I don't need you" she repeated and so the more I wanted to get to know this little dog, so certain of herself. I just asked Alba "how is your life?"

Alba shared with me memories: how she knows "real earth dirt" their smell potent and lasting, how she remembers living "not in the city" because when she sleeps "the night is so quiet", and how their home is filled with "stars on the ground."

A home with so many stars, invited, created, honored, and loved. She added "sometimes they move, the stars." The gremlins then chorused "yes, the stars! We love them! Tell her, Alba!!"

Alba then shared with me a story of how they believe that these stars come from the humans' steps. But that stopped some time ago. A devastation. When that happened, they all felt it and they all agreed-- "we breathe with them, the one who carries the grief. We share the air, we share our lungs." I told them that they didn't have to do that. "We know! This is how we love."

Suddenly, the session wasn't about Alba. It was about her humans who created stars. When our animal friends bless us with their undying love, sometimes that means they are willing to breathe the same pain until the pain unfurls into love.

Thank you, Alba.