David Vance SubstackRead More
Here is a rather sad little story.
I have a property in a quiet little seaside village which I shuttle back and forth from. I’ve been there for 20 years and over time you notice things change.
Not very far from my place, there is fairly modest semi-detached house. I walk past it on my way down to the village shop. In my early years here, I used to see an elderly man and his even more elderly dog at the front of the house. I would also speak and say “good morning” and he would smile and his dog just tended to snooze. It was an old Labrador. He clearly lived alone with his dog, I assume his wife was dead.
So a few years passed and he and I got to recognise each other as we had our morning hello and his dog was always there with him. He seemed a kindly soul.
Then, after a few months of me not being in the village, I saw him again but his dog was no longer there. My heart sank. It had obviously died and now he was truly alone. I felt gutted. It was a lovely dog.
A few more months passed. And then he was gone too.
I didn’t even KNOW this man but I felt very sad. And in the years after these events, the house has fallen into some disrepair, it appears to be rented out, sometimes it just sits vacant.
And I walk past it.
And I still can see him and his dog. Standing there. Saying “Good morning”
The way they were before time took them.
It’s strange how we see the effects of time on others but not on ourselves.
This is my little epitaph to one man and his dog. Forever together.
