Will's Red Coat: The Story of One Old Dog Who Chose to Live Again

by Tom Ryan

This is the core of Will’s story, his choice to live again. He made it that morning he crawled to my bedside after those first weeks, and he made it every day after that. I’ll never underestimate the courage that took. Looking at his various beds around the apartment, listening for snores I would no longer hear, thinking about how I would finally be able to sleep through my nights without a bell ringing or having to give him a surprise bath, I was exhausted. More important, though, I felt reverential. It’s nice to think that love can conquer all. It’s a Hallmark sentiment, and it may offer hope to the hopeless. But for those of us who have loved and lost, it doesn’t ring true. I have loved people in the past who were too broken, too far gone, to live again. They crawl into a bottle or take pills or get lost in anger. I have known some animals who were the same way. They couldn’t remake themselves. They couldn’t rise above their bitterness or what humankind had done to them. A fresh start was not possible, and opening their hearts again was not realistic. They were simply broken to never be made whole again. Love offers us her gifts, but she must be met somewhere in the middle with courage and faith. That’s part of Will’s legacy. He didn’t give up when he had every reason to do so.