It is often said that ‘home is where the heart is, but recently I have come to think that it is more than that. Home is the place the heart makes us seek. It is the place that the person we have not yet become makes us stretch to find as if we somehow carry a forwards-echo of it even before knowing it’s outward face.
At the closing of an old year, the arrival in my life of my sweet friend Monty was followed closely by a convergence of circumstances that meant I found myself unexpectedly seeking a new place to live for us both and having to take him with me on many roads, all too frequently without any view of success in sight. My dear, loyal friend threw himself into all the challenges that the road ahead would bring, with a tenacity and enthusiasm that were a revelation to me. My ‘little dog’ was no longer a little dog but proved to be a huge spirit who just happened to be running around in a small furry body. Some of the most challenging months of my life have been flooded with gratitude for his unflappable friendship and natural wisdom.
On all our travels, Monty has been ceaselessly welcoming to new friends, despite the many fluctuations in his own life and open to sharing his loving personality freely everywhere we have been. He would walk up to people in new places, starting conversations and leaving a trail of cheerfulness behind him, even when I might have not bothered to even say ‘Hi’ had he not been there. I grew to match him because I had to. He reassured me through difficult days and didn’t stop there but did the same for my friends as well. Before long, I realised that although he is ‘my dog’, his vast character is so enormous that there is more than enough to go around to not only dwarf any challenges our lives might face but to also make others happy along the way while we overcome them.
When worry threatened to absorb me, he told me of the values of simplicity, happiness and fun. When I felt lost he would look at me with joy, unfettered by false complexities and wiggle with grateful delight at the gift of a simple ball. “Wow! A BALL. Is that really for me? THANK YOU!” Between us we wrote and illustrated our conversations so that anyone who wants to can share his humour and ideas about life. This book is for anyone who may be wishing for an extra friend on their journey. Maybe you already know what it is to have a dog at your side. But if not and you just wish for it, then even across whatever distances may appear to separate us in person, you do now. One thing Monty has taught me is how huge love is and how it dissolves all distances and separations.
