Harry Pupper’s Pining Door.

Pining Door

“Your dog is pining for you at the door,” Sue said to me over the phone.

Such words seemed to ease my loneliness at being away from home at first. Yet, the more I thought about them, the more they made me wonder. After all, Harry Pupper wasn’t home alone. He was there with another loved one. And, it was late into that night when I walked through Harry’s “pining door.”

As soon as I walked through that lonely door Harry Pupper perked right up.  His stubby tail was furiously stirring the air and he made one of his patented push-off-jumps up onto my leg. It’s one of his ways of welcoming me home. He is a faithful friend to be sure.

Yet, there was a thought acting as an anvil on my heart. “Is there a difference between being a faithful friend and not allowing oneself to enjoy the association of surrounding loved ones, when one or more are away?” So, for the rest of that arrival night and the next day I watched Harry Pupper to acquire additional insight. 

Harry’s eyes followed me as I lifted my suitcase onto the bed in our primary suite, in begin my ritual unpacking process. He lay near me as I unzipped the case and began to unload packed items, based on relocating them back to their rightful spots.

Once sorted, I took one stack with me to the closet. Harry followed me there. He relaxed himself on the floor as I carefully hung shirts and pants. He stayed in that same position as I sorted the soiled laundry and placed it into respective bins. When I left the closet, he followed me into the bathroom.

Once I began to return toiletries to the vanity, he resumed his resting position not far away. He stayed that way until I left that room, later, after following me to diverse household locations, he returned with me to the bedroom as soon as I said, “it’s time for bed.”

When we got up in the morning to actively pursue the new day, he laid on his under-my-desk cushion as I started my workday. He stayed there with me through the morning. He was relaxed and seemingly fulfilled. Then something changed. Sue, my wife, left the house.

As soon as Sue left the house, Harry resumed his post at his pining door, where he reposed through the afternoon until she returned. He was there for hours. And, I remembered Sue’s words, electronically transferred into my ear, just one day and a half, earlier.

“Your dog is pining for you at the door,” she had said to me over the phone.

Such words seemed to ease my loneliness at being away from home at first. Yet, the more I thought about them, the more they made me wonder. After all, Harry Pupper wasn’t home alone. He was there with another loved one. And, it was late into the next day when Sue walked through Harry’s “pining door,” after being out for most of the afternoon. All that while He could have been receiving consideration from surrounding love. That’s when something important dawned on me.

A person doesn’t feel lonely, until they focus on love they aren’t receiving. So, perhaps we should, all of us, center our thoughts and hearts more fully on the love presently encircling us, rather than on our own pining doors?

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