Unconditional Love

Dad was forever bringing home every stray animal left abandoned in the restrooms of the gas station he owned. If we didn’t keep them, Dad quickly found them homes. Later in life, he adopted a beautiful Siberian Husky with one blue eye and one brown eye. Tasha was crazy about Dad and “talked” to him through yowls and wails, which he loved. Tasha was always right by his side. She even slept on his bed.

Whenever she was outside, Tasha wanted to run, and Dad couldn’t chase her, so he hooked her collar to a long rope. But Tasha would get her line wrapped around a tree, and Dad had to trudge outside to untangle her many times a day. It became exhausting for him. Tasha also shed. A lot. Dad covered his sofa and chairs with bed sheets because vacuuming the furniture took too much effort. He washed the sheets every week.

It didn’t surprise me Dad did so much for Tasha. The herculean effort he put in really taxed his stamina, but it was clear they gave each other absolutely unconditional love. In some ways, she was as much his caregiver as he was hers.