...of Gifts from Sam.
1. Mariah and Sam (a Golden Retriever) - my first friends in Cleveland
2. My wonderful work with dogs
3. Lessons on loving and letting go
4. Awareness of living in the present moment and lots of practice in it
5. Lots of forgiveness when I accidentally cut his nails too short... on several occasions (sorry, Bud...)
6. Many of my other friends in Cleveland
7. My house (his unfortunate adventures in 2000 caused me to reconsider living in my apartment in the "country" if he and Abby couldn't be off leash, so I started looking for a house to buy)
8. His deep understanding and acceptance of my quirks, occasional temper tantrums, and foibles
9. The beauty of allowing - things to happen and evolve, forgiveness of myself, his inevitable passing....
10. His example of servant leadership
11. A chance to appreciate his patience, grace, and sometimes his frustration with respect to his advancing age and changing abilities
12. The honor of knowing his Wise Self and apprenticing to him for an wonderfully long time
To list all the gifts Sam gave me might take 17 more years so I'll leave off here... He taught me about me, him, relationship, allowing, leading, and other beings and in hindsight, much more than I learned in 5 years of college. Cheers to the University of Dog and my graduation from the College of Sam...
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