No sorrow without joy first

By the Rev. Valinda Morse, assistant to the bishop

We had the boys for the week. Life is different with a 9-year-old and a 6-year-old in your house. We had two extra dogs for the week. The house seemed less roomy with four enormous dogs and two boys with their toys. It would be our 43rd wedding anniversary during the week. A romantic getaway — we went out for pizza. Quite an anniversary celebration with our kids' kids and dogs.

But, there was more. Our Gus, the gentle giant, our chocolate lab of nearly 14 years, was having trouble. He could hardly see. He could barely hear. He had lost his bark. His once strong back legs wouldn’t hold him anymore.The love of his life, retrieving, was a thing of the past. He had slowed down so gradually that it was hard to believe this athletic specimen was old and fragile. The lump on his shoulder appeared out of nowhere, but it grew quickly, and the dry cough was troublesome. It was metastasized cancer, attacking our Gus with a vengeance.

In the midst of the chaos of the week of kids and extra dogs we made our trip to the vet. There I was sitting on the floor with my high-school heart throb, the one who has been my constant partner for 43 years. There I was sitting on the floor with my beloved boys on my lap. There I was sitting on the floor with my arms around Gus. Of course there was the pup, our yellow lab Mali, in the room as well; she needed to know what was happening to her housemate. Arms around one another and around Gus we were a sad sight, all except Mali who was busy smelling.

It was one of those poignant moments of life, being so very grateful for 43 years with the finest of men, finding so much enjoyment from these two precocious boys, giving thanks for this amazing dog who had given us 14 years of the best he had to give, and crying because it had come to an end. And, of course, our busy little Mali. Life and death swirling around us. An old dog and a young dog. An old couple and two little boys. A future and a past. Joy and sorrow all mixed together.

There is no sorrow without joy first. There is no old without young first. There is no death without life first. Sometimes it is hard to embrace both, especially at the same time. It was a day to celebrate and a day to weep, and we did. How blessed we are that in the midst of the joys and sorrows of life a constant, gracious and loving God walks beside us, allowing us to experience what it means to be alive, and who laughs and cries with us.