When I Am Old

When I am old... I will wear soft gray sweatshirts... and a bandana over
my silver hair... and I will spend my social security checks on wine and my dogs.

I will sit in my house on my well-worn chair and listen to my dogs
breathing. I will sneak out in the middle of a warm summer night and take
my dogs for a run, if my old bones will allow...

When people come to call, I will smile and nod as I show them my dogs...
and talk of them and about them... ...the ones so beloved of the past and
the ones so beloved of today...

I will still work hard cleaning after them, mopping and feeding them and
whispering their names in a soft loving way.

I will wear the gleaming sweat on my throat, like a jewel, and I will be
an embarrassment to all... especially my family... who have not yet found
the peace in being free to have dogs as your best friends...

These friends who always wait, at any hour, for your footfall... and
eagerly jump to their feet out of a sound sleep, to greet you as if you
are a God, with warm eyes full of adoring love and hope that you will
always stay,

I'll hug their big strong necks... I'll kiss their dear sweet heads... and
whisper in their very special company....

I look in the mirror... and see I am getting old.... this is the kind of
person I am... and have always been.

Loving dogs is easy, they are part of me.

Please accept me for who I am. My dogs appreciate my presence in their
lives... they love my presence in their lives...

When I am old this will be important to me... you will understand when you
are old, if you have dogs to love too.