Today marks one year since Youk took his last ride with us in the house on wheels.

I don’t think a day goes by that Sandy and I don’t have a conversation about him.  When we arrive at a new spot, or a park to walk or ride our bikes at, almost inevitably, one of us will say, “Youk would have loved this place.”

Our life is so different without him in it anymore.

This past weekend at my book signing in Clarksville, Tennessee, I was telling a family Youk’s story.  I told them, “He had a good long life.  He lived to be a little over 15-years-old, got to see 46 states, and one Canadian province with us, but we still miss him every day.  No matter how long you have them, you want them around longer.”

The father of the family, immediately responded, “Yeah, forever isn’t long enough.”

That hit me like a ton of bricks.  “Ain’t that the truth.”  I replied.

I think that’s relevant for anyone we’ve lost whom we have loved deeply.  Forever just simply isn’t long enough.  We always want one more minute, one more hour, one more day, one more year.  It doesn’t matter, we just want them longer, but that isn’t how life works.

Father Time always wins.  The people and pets we love come into our lives and bless us with their presence.  Our hearts break when they leave us, but that’s all part of the circle of life.  Time is an ever-flowing river that stops for no one, regardless of how hard we try to grip it, it just keeps flowing.  That is why we must cherish every single moment we get to spend with those we love.  Those moments are fleeting, and we should have a better understanding of just how precious they are.  It is human nature to take those moments for granted, but Youk certainly taught us to cherish the little things in life more than I ever had before.  It’s amazing what dogs can teach us about life if we allow them to.

Youk had a very special knack for keeping us in the moment and making us appreciate the little things in life.  Sometimes, now that he is gone, Sandy and I aren’t quite as diligent as we were with him to carve out time on long travel days to make sure we get our bodies moving.  We’re still very good at getting exercise when we don’t have a long travel day.  Whether a hike, walk or now even a bike ride, but somehow, without having Youk here to give us that gentle nudge with his nose to remind us to start looking for a park so we can get out and move, we sometimes just keep driving.  There are even times when we’ll stop for a bathroom break and never leave the RV.  We’ll pull into a rest area, go back to the bathroom in the RV, do our business, and jump right back on the road again.  That never happened when Youk was around.  We need to be more diligent about it without him here to remind us.  I suppose that will come with time and discipline on our part.

As crazy as it sounds, we still talk to him, too.  Quite often, to be honest.  If we’re having a rough day, we’ll ask him to send a dog our way.  Even if we’re not having a rough day, we may ask him to send a dog our way, just to make a good day even better.  We can spot a golden retriever from quite a distance, and we’ll go out of our way to say hello.  Our supply is getting low, but we still have some of Youk’s old treats that we love sharing with the dogs we see along our travels.  It’s nowhere near the same, but it does fill that void in our hearts, temporarily, but it still helps.

People often ask us if and when we’ll get another dog.  For now, the answer to that question is still that we won’t.  Youk was special.  All our dogs were special, we were extremely blessed in that regard, but there was just something about Youk.  Even though I can’t pinpoint it, he had an aura about him.  He could make people smile, even “non-dog” people would find themselves smiling around Youk.  There was just something about him that brought out the best in people, literally up until his last breath, and even beyond.  His books have kept his legacy alive.  His story is still being told.  His impact is still being felt and will continue to be felt for many years to come.

I’ve shared tears and hugged strangers at book signings many times since his passing and I can’t help but to think there will be more of those moments in the future.  I have signed books addressed to dogs who have both crossed the rainbow bridge and who remain here on earth filling their humans with love every day.  More people have told me that they will read Youk’s book to their dog as soon as they get home than I would have ever imagined.  His impact, that aura, they still live on even though he crossed the Rainbow Bridge.  He truly was larger than life.  I guess that’s why it’s so hard for us to imagine getting another dog.  We know that he is still with us.  It’s different.  It’s not even close to being the same, but we know that he is still here, riding along every mile that we travel.  He knows to send a canine along our path on those days when we need more than just his spirit with us.  When need to feel the softness of fur on our hands.  Get a little dose of slobber on our hands, face, or shorts.  Even just seeing a tail wag can bring a certain peace over our souls in that moment.

We still have that paw shaped hole in our hearts, but our boy seems to know how to send us a band aid at just the right moment.

It’s still hard to believe it’s been a year, and even though forever isn’t long enough, we can find some solace in the fact that his legacy and story will live on forever though his books. Even after we join him on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge, his story will continue to be told forever, and that’s a pretty special thing.