When you need a friend

The meeting was winding to a close. I had been worried about it all morning. I wanted to make sure that my client got what she needed. It was made even more awkward because there seemed to be an abnormally high level of tension and a confrontation of egos over whose needs were more important.

In addition, a HVAC worker was finishing up giving our central air unit its annual cleaning and was recommending that we replace it with a new expensive one. I knew the air conditioner was starting to work less efficiently, but his recommendation was still a surprise.

I wanted to cry out: “Really now? The air conditioner has to be replaced now? Am I being punked or something?”

On top of it all, I was waiting for a text from my wife to hear how she made out with an important doctor’s visit. When I finally had a moment to myself, I let out a deep sigh. 

Nittany, our Lhasa Apsa-Bichon Frise dog, must have heard me. I wasn’t crying or unhappy or walking around in a tizzy. For all intense of purposes, I was fine. I was just trying to catch my breath and take in everything that happened that morning.

Nittany though had others ideas. She came into my office. She rarely visits me during the day unless she needs let out. She’s older and doesn’t get around real well. She prefers to spend her days in uninterrupted slumber. We have a unstated agreement: I stay in my office, she gets the rest of the house to lounge during the day. Of course, on this day Nittany wanted up on the bed that sits in the corner. When I put her on it, she kept looking at me. She wanted me to sit with her.

When I sat down, she clung close to me and put her paw on my arm. I could feel her heart beat against me. For a dog that doesn’t always show a lot of emotion, she was going out of her way to get my attention and to be nice to me.

I’m not one to “Disneyfy” animals — yes my own word, a version of anthropomorphism, meaning to give animals humanlike emotions and behaviors. I grew up in a rural community and recognize that animals often have inbred responses. We may take those responses to mean one thing, but they can just as easily be an instinctual response to what’s happening around them.

But, I couldn’t ignore it either, Nittany read the situation and my crazy mind that I needed a friend. 

Yes, I needed a friend.

Oh ol’ girl, thank you.