Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About Quotes

“Small moments are an act of bravery, even if you’re the only one who notices.”
― Isabel Klee, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About

“The grief of pet loss is a quiet sort of suffering. There is no bereavement leave from work, no funeral with loved ones. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, someone will ask about your pet. Oh, we lost her last week, you’ll say. I’m so sorry, they’ll say back. And that’s it, the moment is over, and you’re expected to continue on with life like it’s any other day. Like your world hasn’t been flipped on its axis, the empty spot at the bottom of the stairs like a black hole in your living room. Pet loss is so intensely personal, so intimate and tragically singular, that others can’t really participate in your hurt. When a human dies, there are friends, coworkers, and family members—people who knew them and can recount funny stories or profound memories. Of course people knew Ruby, many of them loved her, but it was different. A pet is there with you more than any friend, any family member, and any significant other. They’re present in all your most private moments, when you can let your guard down and just be. They’re there for every heartbreaking cry, and every mindless laugh as you watch your favorite TV show. They’re there through every season, every dinner cooked, and every sleepless night. They’re there, consistent and content, no questions asked, just happy to be standing next to you. It’s something you’re so used to, something you might have taken for granted, and all of a sudden their presence is zapped from your life so quickly and violently it leaves marks on every part of you.”
― Isabel Klee, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About

“We cried for all the moments he would miss, no more second chances. An empty space that would echo forever, because grief is just love living on, tucked behind ribs, always a part of you.”
― Isabel Klee, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About

“my parents were choosing the inevitable heartbreak that comes at the end of a dog’s life. They were going into it knowing how much it would hurt one day and doing it anyway. Because the loss is excruciating, there’s no way around it. But the in-between is pure magic.”
― Isabel Klee, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About

“But Tiki had taught me that small moments can be big moments. Small moments can stack on top of each other, day after day, until they are so big and important that you can’t help but notice. Choosing to listen to yourself, your body, and pushing forward every day—that was what mattered. Small moments are an act of bravery, even if you’re the only one who notices.”
― Isabel Klee, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About

“Have the best life ever,” I whispered. “You deserve it.”
― Isabel Klee, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About

“You push and you push into different corners of your mind, your body, thinning out your fears until they practically disappear altogether. Doubts just become anxiety, anxiety becomes stress, stress becomes a bad day. And bad days we can deal with, bad days pass, bad days don’t mean you’re with the wrong person. They’re just bad days.”
― Isabel Klee, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About

“Loving a dog is proof alone that actions speak louder than words. You exist together, a back-and-forth, a give-and-take, as fluid and reliable as the lap of a wave along a shoreline. You sleep together, eat together, walk together, love together, and your commitment to each other never has to be stated. It just is. You get to know each other through living, the careful observation of two beings who want to understand.”
― Isabel Klee, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About

“It was in that moment I realized—losing Ruby would be the first of many great heartbreaks in my life. It was the loss of the purest love I had ever known. But, thankfully, accidentally, she had also shown me the power of a dog. Of unconditional love, of blind optimism. Of living and loving and losing and having it all be worth it.”
― Isabel Klee, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About

“They love”
― Isabel Klee, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About

“We try to make sense of horrible things, as if knowing what happened will erase the hurt and confusion.”
― Isabel Klee, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About

“There were many days when Simon was the only reason I got out of bed, his paws gently tapping my shoulder as the sun began to rise. There were many days when Simon was the only reason why I talked to a new person. There were many days when Simon was the only reason why I moved my body, why I got fresh air, why I laughed. He was propelling me forward, insisting I continue living my life, and he wasn’t even trying. It’s a dog’s instinct to live. To enjoy every day, to feel the sunshine. To exist in the moment. To feel joy without feeling embarrassed. To bark when they’re upset, or happy, or whatever emotion is currently flooding their brains. They live unencumbered, unrelenting, and the state of the world doesn’t matter. The way their bodies look doesn’t matter. The weather doesn’t matter, the season doesn’t matter.”
― Isabel Klee, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About

“death will always bring us together, even if just for an afternoon.”
― Isabel Klee, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About

“Together, the three of us were obnoxious, naive, and full of starry-eyed hope.”
― Isabel Klee, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About

“That’s the thing people don’t realize about dogs—they’re pretty much happy anywhere they can get love, attention, food, and a warm bed. I think a lot of times we like to believe that we’re the only people whom our dogs could love that much, but they love most people, most of the time, without reason and without question. They love good people and bad people and criminals and saints, men and women and gender-nonconforming people. They love people no matter their race or education level or sexuality. They love, and sometimes lose, but they can always love again.”
― Isabel Klee, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About

“All that was left were our bodies, solid, warm, two pieces of the same puzzle, a match so even and perfect it almost felt like meeting yourself for the first time.”
― Isabel Klee, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About

“Because I knew exactly how to heal a broken heart. I had done it before, in a different apartment, with girls sitting next to me on the couch, napping beside me in bed, eating dinner with me as I watched bad reality TV, but I knew how it went. You find strangers who accept you. You give yourself time and space. And then you become so unapologetically yourself that it almost scares anyone who knew you before.”
― Isabel Klee, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About

“I thought of the finality of it all—how once you’re gone, you’re really gone. You will only live on in stories told over dinner tables, in the grief that comes from a newly empty seat.”
― Isabel Klee, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About

“Caring is a currency when it comes to dating. It’s really very simple—whoever cares less has the upper hand. Luckily for me, Charlie fell head over heels in love with me and I fell head over heels in love with the attention he gave me. He clutched me like a prize, and I let him, finding pride in the desperate way he wanted me.”
― Isabel Klee, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About

“That’s the magic of dogs: The simple, unrelenting magic is that they don’t even have to try. They heal just by existing, reminding us to live every moment to the fullest. Because what is life other than taking long walks, eating good food, and spending time with the people you love most?”
― Isabel Klee, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About