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My husband Jim and I took our dog Holly to the veterinarian last week and came home carrying only her collar. It still had the little metal tag on it.

I hadn't realized how much of loving a dog is physical until there was no longer a body there. I miss Holly burrowing against my side in the middle of the night. I miss coming home to the frantic scratch, scratch, scratch of her paws as she hurried to greet me. I miss the particular texture of her tongue and those tiny determined licks that made my husband and me joke she ought to have a "licker license." More than anything, I miss the way she altered the pace of my days. Holly's energy was never hurried. When you were with her, you naturally slowed down. You lingered a little longer. Her rhythm quietly became your rhythm, and without realizing it, your own nervous system began to match hers.

Until she was gone, I hadn't........

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