Being a Part of Something

Although Chewie is the newest addition to our family, he has truly become the one creature who is with me throughout each and every single day that I am home. He sleeps on my side of the bed in the floor because JoJo takes her spot religiously up on the bed on my side; when I go from one room to the other, Chewie is there and so happy we are together. Of course he isn't the only one - JoJo and Gabby likewise make certain their presence is felt through the day and evening because in some inexplicable way we are a cohesive unit.

Hubby fits in there, of course. He is the disciplinarian more so than me in some respects and carries the alpha male role throughout our little pack. As the alpha female I have respect, but there is just a wee bit more of feeling, of love there. I nurture. I protect. I care for them and encourage them whereas Hubby doesn't. That just doesn't seem to be his job, especially as far as the rest are concerned.

Hubby is also convinced Chewie needs to be more aggressive because he is the largest of the three and he needs to step up to protect me if called upon to do so. Chewie's action are his protection: he covers me to take whatever bad thing he believes is about to happen. He is quietly between me and the danger and does not move from my side. JoJo and Gabby then proceed to get whatever is wrong in our world.

It is my goal to never take this particular "something", this dynamic we have for granted. Today it all came out in full force because I have been very under the weather and each time I have had to move from room to room or to the bathroom, we have moved as a unit and everyone was there to encourage me. They were there to love me and back me up, even if it was vomiting because of the stomach virus. Chewie couldn't get between me and whatever was making me sick, so he was there each purge of the stomach contents pressing himself up against my side and just letting me know he was there. Gabby and JoJo waited patiently by the bathroom door, I think mostly because we all couldn't fit in our tiny bathroom!

Just a little while after this particular bad bathroom, stomach-purging episode I picked up the remote and decided to watch some television. As usual, everyone chose their spots as close to me as possible. This time Chewie got up into the couch beside me close enough for me to reach out and touch him. When everyone was settled there was an almost collective sigh from everyone, including myself. We were just happy to be together with each other today, even though it wasn't perfect. We had each other, and it showed.