A good dog died today.
There’s a lot to say
About 15 human years of dog life.
About Uncle Cody, and all the ways
He taught lessons to the other dogs
At Uncle School (not an easy school).

Uncle School had lessons in manners
Lessons in personal space
Lessons in respecting your elders.
Uncle School was hard on Uncle, too
When the students got big enough
To realize they maybe didn’t have to
Take his lessons any longer.

Uncle School is only part of the story.
There is also a simple love story:
Once upon a time, there was a girl,
And this girl met a dog, and she loved him.
She did not, in the immortal words of Robin Williams,
Know shit about fuck
Where dogs were concerned.
This dog, he put up with a lot
Of things she did not know.

This girl, she has a lot of flaws.
Here’s the thing about this girl, though:
She really knows how to love.
Here’s the thing about this dog
(Here’s the thing about dogs):
They really know how to feel love.
Even when you screw up
Pretty much all the details.
And they really know
How to love you back.

Today’s lesson at Uncle School
Was about how to love and let go.
It was about trusting yourself.
It was about listening to someone else
When they can’t tell you anything in words.
It was about how some lessons are simple.
It was about how love is the best teacher
Except for a good dog.
Uncle School, over and out.