Loved, and Gone

From the moment that tiny
black dog with the hesitant
manner entered our lives all those
years ago, we loved her and she
loved us right back. When she
left us nineteen years later it was
sheer desolation, and we imagined
glimpsing her small dark form as
a shadow slipping around the corner
of rooms in the house where she
lingered with us through all those
years. Shy and joyful as a puppy
clever and companionable
as she matured, her loss was a
devastation. Some, not knowing 
better, might feel we sought to 
replace her with two doppelgangers
black siblings with an uncanny 
physical resemblance to the 
irreplaceable one; personalities
not remotely like hers, nor is 
the bond that we share now a 
reflection of the one that existed 
between us all those years ago. 
Each of these relationships must 
stand on their own idiosyncratic 
merits, and though much time has 
passed we miss her yet. We do not 
recognize our long-lost companion 
in those who now share our lives.