當你路過我的陽光

第6章 我最好的朋友阿諾德My Best Friend Arnold

字體:16+-

佚名 /Anonymous

I recently lost my best friend Arnold in an automobile accident while moving my family to our new home in Arizona. Arnold was an 8-month-old potbelly who taught me so much about love, devotion and companionship. I am devastated by his loss, but thank God for blessing me with the joy of having Arnold for his short life.

Arnold didn't know he was a pig-he thought he was just another member of our family-modeling his behavior through observing me, my wife, my two daughters and our beagles. He was convinced he was loved by all; and he was, even when he was ornery trying to just get our attention.

He loved to sleep on your lap as you sat on the couch watching TV. He didn't care if he grew to weigh 45 lbs, he still expected you to hoist him onto your lap at precisely 8:00 pm every evening where he would fall fast asleep within seconds after snuggling his wet nose between your neck and shoulder. If you didn't respond to his initial “honks” letting you know it was his nap time, he would bump your legs with his nose until you picked him up. With his weight as it was, you couldn't hold him all evening as he preferred, so you had to slide him off onto the couch next to you where he would sleep for hours with all four legs and his nose sticking straight up in the air. He would snore as long as he could feel you next to him but would immediately wake up if you tried to leave the couch. We had hours of fun balancing objects like a salt shaker on his f lat nose while he slept soundly.

Arnold helped me in all my chores around our f ive acres in the country. Just being there at my feet, interested in what I was doing made even the most mundane tasks enjoyable. When he was out roaming and foraging and you would call out his name, he would come running at top speed, honking the whole way until he got close to you where he would dodge you, zigzagging around before settling down and calmly walking up to you with his tail wagging as if to say “hah, got-cha.”