Animals know, all animals know when something is different to their routine, especially if one is connected to you like Seven is with me.

I was not only moving from my home of 18 years but I was discarding the majority of what I had collected for the past 68 years. I reduced it all to what could fit in a dodge caravan and head for the hills.  This was most confusing for Seven and in fact for myself! He saw item by item leave the house.  In the end we had a mattress and a few boxes scattered on the floor.  His only comfort was that his bed, his cats and I were still there. Then the cats left. That broke Seven and I. I do know that they are fine, they are together and have the best life ever with a most amazing lady.  But damn it, I do still miss them terribly and always will, Kitty(mama) and her two kittens Lucy and Baby.  But logistically it would have been insane to travel alone with Seven and 3 cats on the journey that I was about to make. You will hear more about them as time goes on.

Seven was not leaving my side during this whole process which took not only a few days but weeks/months of planning and organizing. Even if it was to go to the corner store he came with me. If on the odd occasion I had to leave without him the look on his face would make you cry and it did.  My work was sporadic which didn’t help and there were days or evenings that I would curl up and cry. Seven always trying to comfort me with his kisses not really knowing what the hell was going on. But he sure knew that something big was happening. How the hell do you tell a dog as smart as Border Collies or any dog can be, that you are packing up and leaving but they are coming too? Pretty much impossible. But we coped, we had each other, as crazy as that may seem to anyone who has never had a dog share their life.

I tried to make life as normal as possible but honestly I don’t think I did a very good job. My mind was scattered and Seven sensed it. He was feeling the anxiety that I was creating in our world.  I looked at him and saw the worry in his face. We would visit our friends and I would put on that happy face but little did he know that was the last time he may see them. And back to our empty house we went. To the mattress on the floor. To the scattered boxes. To the odds and ends that were lingering behind waiting to be tossed away. It was chaos. And he knew.

Then the trusted Jeep left. That was hard. Sure wish I had her now because she would be perfect where I am which you will all see soon enough.

Without him, without Seven by my side every single day, I could not have done this. I could not have moved on. that’s what friends are all about. They slobber you with wet kisses when you are happy or when you are sad and that makes you happy.