Resurrection (08/06/19)

Throughout my life, I've always been a dog guy! The list of dogs in my life from the time I was a kid was long. Jacko, Lisa, Penny, Pete, Shadow, Mitus, Slate, Misty, Bernie, Jackie, Hound.

But none of them held that spot in my heart like my black lab Pawzer! At the time she was part of my life, she WAS my life—we went everywhere together. Walks in the vineyards, hiking in the snow, road trips throughout California.

But, as every dog owner knows, every dog passes on. Especially the larger dogs—we know we only have 10-12 years with them, so you make every day a special one.

Pawzer had to be put to sleep on August 6, 2006. I was devastated. Devastated was a mellow way of describing how I felt. I had lost the most beloved member of my family.

About 4 years later, I had resettled in Los Angeles, and was on a weekend trip with a couple of friends to San Diego. Early one morning we were walking along Waterfront Park and saw a lady coming our direction walking two absolutely beautiful black labs.

I was looking forward to stopping and saying hello, giving a couple belly rubs, and spending some time petting those beautiful pups. As we got closer, one of the labs started getting excited, and broke loose running straight for me. Her owner kept yelling at her to come back, but the pup was in full stride coming straight at me.

She ran up to me like I was her best friend, licking my face, dancing around like crazy, and I laid on the ground rubbing her belly, scratching her back. It was one of those happy moments in life. I missed Pawzer!

As the lady came up, profusely apologizing, she said her dog had never done anything like that before, that she was always well behaved. No apologies needed, she reminds me of my black lab I had lost several years back.

Out of the blue, I asked how old this pup was, as the gorgeous lab was laying in my lap on the sidewalk, tail wagging away like a dust buster. She said her lab was born on August 6, 2006, and that she had gotten her as a pup.

My friends said I turned white as a ghost. This WAS my black lab who had died on that same day, brought back to life, and by an awesome chance, on the same sidewalk as I was 4 years later.

As I have said before, I don't believe in coincidence. But I do believe...

#SanDiego #dogs #resurrection #blacklab #Pawzer