Rest well, dear friend

My thoughts today (and beyond) are with my dear blogfriend Meg, who lost one of her wonderful dogs to cancer this morning. I can't remember exactly how Meg and I "met" online, but it seems to me that we clicked from the very beginning. I have long held onto the unlikely fantasy that one day we'd get together for a puppy-dog playdate so that Indy could meet her fabulous pack of three -- Mack, Clara Bow, and Streak.

In all probability we'll never manage, since we live quite far apart and will only live farther from each other when she completes her long-dreamed-of move to Alaska one day. But it's still a nice thing to wish for. Sadly, our meet-up with Mack will have to wait until a day far off in the future, when all are reunited again (because I've long felt that there's little point to having a Heaven unless dogs and people get to go to the same one).

Even though sassy little Clara Bow seems to easily capture people's attention (and I do love Clara Bow) and Streak the retired Iditarod sled dog has a wonderful backstory, I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Mack. Perhaps it's because his black coat and smiling eyes remind me so much of Indy, perhaps it's because there's something so endearing about the quietly quirky brother of two much more flamboyant girls. For myriad reasons, Mack will be dearly, dearly missed, by his pack of dogs and humans, and by those who have come to love him from afar through photos and stories.

Rest well, dear boy, and maybe one day we'll finally meet.

Clara Bow & Mack