A Love Beyond Words

Our dog, Adou, passed away today.

She was with us for thirteen years.

Last night, it was as if she already knew. She sat quietly, looking at our home, for a long while. Then she slowly came over to my husband and me, and simply stayed there, quietly, by our side. I stroked her, and called her, as I always did, you silly Adou.

Now I understand that she was saying goodbye.

In all our thirteen years, Adou and I never once spoke a word to each other. She could not understand most of what I said, and I could not speak her language. And yet last night, I felt so clearly what she wanted to tell us.

Her eyes, the way she stayed quietly by our side, in that moment, were beyond any words.

And I suddenly understood that between a person and an animal, there can be a very, very deep feeling. A feeling that needs no language. Or rather, it is precisely because there are no words that it is purer, and more direct. No pretty words, no promises, only a quiet staying, a quiet watching. And yet all the love in it, I felt completely.

We always think that to connect, we must speak. But Adou, with her whole life, and above all with this last night, taught me that the deepest feelings need no words.

They are felt.

Just as in all her thirteen years, she never once said that she loved us, and yet we always knew she did. She said it with her wagging tail, with her waiting for us at the door each day, with her quiet farewell last night, over and over again.

Right now I am very sad. The house feels, all at once, a little empty.

But I also know that Adou's life was a happy one. She was loved by us for thirteen whole years, and she gave her whole life to us. That she chose, last night, to come to our side to say goodbye, was her final word of love to us.

Her body has gone, but that thirteen years of wordless love will not go. It will stay, always, in our hearts.

Thank you, silly Adou. Thank you for teaching me that there is a love that goes beyond words.

- Marie, Founder of Lyfairs