Fourteen Years of Love – For My Dolly

Today my little Dolly turns fourteen.

And as I sit here with her close by, I realise how quietly, faithfully, she has witnessed some of the most important chapters of my adult life. Fourteen years is still a long time to walk beside someone. Long enough to see you through change, to watch you grow, to be there as life softens and reshapes you — and long enough to see you finally settle into yourself.

Dogs don’t just live with us.

They live through life with us.

Dolly has been there through change, through heartbreak and healing, through laughter, exhaustion, reinvention, and growth. She’s known me in ways no one else ever could — not through words or explanations, but through presence. Through sitting close. Through waiting. Through watching. Through knowing.

There is something sacred about the love of a dog.

It is uncomplicated, steady, and deeply attuned. They don’t ask us to be better, stronger, or more healed. They simply meet us exactly as we are, again and again, without judgement.

In a world that often asks us to prove ourselves, dogs ask only that we come home.

They teach us routine when life feels chaotic. They ground us when our minds wander too far ahead. They pull us back into the present moment with a nudge of the nose, a wag of the tail, a quiet sigh as they curl up beside us. They remind us that love doesn’t need grand gestures — it lives in consistency, in showing up, in shared silence.

And yes, they are our children in so many ways.

We worry about them. We adjust our lives around them. We celebrate their birthdays. We feel their ageing in our bones. We love them fiercely, protectively, instinctively. The bond doesn’t need explanation — it is felt, lived, and carried in the heart.

One day — and thank God today is not that day — when they leave this physical world, they do not truly leave us. Their energy lingers. Their presence remains woven into the fabric of our lives. Into our routines. Into the empty spaces where they once lay. Into the memories that surface unexpectedly and soften us all over again.

The love of a dog doesn’t end.

It transforms.

It becomes gratitude.

It becomes remembrance.

It becomes a quiet companion within us, reminding us how deeply we were capable of loving — and being loved in return.

So today, I celebrate Dolly.

Fourteen years of loyalty.

Fourteen years of companionship.

Fourteen years of unconditional love.

And I hold this moment gently, knowing that loving fully is always worth the eventual ache — because what we receive in return is nothing short of a gift.

Happy birthday, my beautiful girl.

Thank you for choosing me.

Thank you for staying.

Thank you for loving me so completely.

With all my heart,

TJ Higgs 🐾✨