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“Dogs’ lives are short, too short, but we know that going in. We know the pain is coming, we’re going to lose a dog, and there’s going to be great anguish, so we live fully in the moment with her, never fail to share his joy or delight in her innocence, because we can’t support the illusion that a dog can be our lifelong companion. There’s such beauty in the hard honesty of that, in accepting and giving love while always aware it comes with an unbearable price. Maybe loving dogs is a way we do penance for all the other illusions we allow ourselves and for the mistakes we make because of those illusions.”

paraphrased from “The Darkest Evening of the Year” by Dean Koontz.