My Hero Died Today

Everyone has a hero. Some people pick athletes or movie stars. Some people pick presidents  or airplane pilots or firemen or policemen. Not me. My hero died today in my arms.

Bialy, my golden retriever, lost his battle with cancer today. You might think that a dog is an odd choice for my hero, but I will explain it.

I am really a dog person, and I believe that golden retrievers are the best dogs. But even for golden retrievers Bialy was special. His life was simple. All he wanted from life was to be in the same room that I was in, a passion he followed religiously right through this morning, even though he could barely move. When I would go out on an errand he would wait at the front door staring out at the driveway, waiting, looking for me until I returned. He always did what he was told.

But why he was my personal hero was that he never met a person he didn't like. Never. Walk in my door and he would be glad to see you. Oh, if I could only emulate that. If I could just look at people the way Bialy did! I try as I might but I can never reach that goal. I am just too human.

When I think of why people don't like me,  and they and their reasons are legion, I put it in the context of what Bialy would do. People don't like me because of how I look, where I live, how I dress,  my weight, my religion, my income ( either I have too much or too little), my often short abrasive manner, and of course my political views.

Bialy didn't care about what anyone brought in the door. Or what they were wearing, looked like, or how much money they had, or how they felt about the budget, or the theatre in town.

Bialy didn't care about any of that. He just  liked them all. Unconditionally. Everyone he met. That is why he was my hero.

What a better place this town, this state, this world would be if we were all like that. But sadly we are not. And the world is a little sadder place without my hero in it.

But If I should pass on, and despite the odds against it, I find myself on stairs waiting to get into heaven, I know I can count on seeing him waiting in the window for me, welcoming everyone who walks in. And he will like each and everyone person he meets.