A Year with Matilda: 2020 Calendar

Matilda is a red heeler with a big heart, a bright smile, a young spirit, and an old soul. She is nearly 15 years old. When people ask me how old she is and I tell them, they almost always give me a sad face or a sympathetic sigh. I know they mean well. I know it comes from a place of love. Still, I wish they wouldn’t. Their response touches a nerve and pulls us down. We know her life is too short. I know it. I wish instead of her years I could tell these well-meaning strangers how many continents she’s traveled, how many oceans she’s played in, how many rivers she’s crossed, how many deserts she’s roamed, how many mountains she’s summited. I wish people knew how many trees and squirrels and eagles and bats and zebras and elephants and cool breezes she’s sensed and smelled. I wish they understood how many lives she’s touched. I wish they could see how many kisses I give her every day. How many times she makes me smile. How many ways she communicates everything she needs to say and everything I need to know, just with her eyes. Maybe they do see it all, and maybe this is what draws them to Matilda. Maybe it's her magic.