Ceres, Get Out Of That Tree!

I've had pets for most of my life and I've loved them all, even the fish, but Ceres was different. She was more than a pet. She was a friend, a spirit guide, a soul mate. She saved my life. Twice.

She was already 14 when my son was born, old for a large breed mix of Rottweiler, Lab and Chow. She was gone before he was 2. Xander has heard many stories about Ceres including how she had slept by my side every day of her life until he was born. Then she started sleeping by his crib. When we moved his bedroom closet became her spot.

He has heard what a great dog she was, how much I loved her and he's seen the videos of himself as a baby giggling his first hysterical giggles at her. He has never heard about her climbing. I'm sure of this.

When she was younger and more spry, I lived in a house with a big tree in the back yard. There was a squirrel in the tree that loved to tease her until, one day she dug in her claws and ran up the tree like a cat. She stopped at large branches to gain her footing and snapped the smaller ones off with her teeth. Our landlord, who had an office on the second story of the house next door, looked out his office window and was eye to eye with her.

Once she realized she could do this she started looking for opportunities everywhere we went. If there was a climbable tree on any hiking trail she was up it. We often gathered a crowd. I often think of her when I see a good tree and imagine her exploring its branches.

Today, X and I went hiking. Suddenly he stopped. He put his little hands on his little hips and said sternly, "Ceres, get out of that tree!"

I stopped. "What?"

"Mom, Ceres is right there, in that tree! Really!"

I looked.
It was a perfect tree.

"I believe you, Buddy. I see her."