I learned more walking through 15 years of life with Murdock than I did in all of the 30 years before he jumped into my arms that October afternoon. I am so grateful for the lessons he taught me. Those lessons are one of the many ways our soulmates live on.

Murdock loved to walk. This guy was a walking fiend. He approached his walks like any lab would – like it was his job. For 15 years, we walked every single day, usually twice a day, rain, sun or snow. He woke up first thing in the morning ready to go, and the moment I got home from work, it was time for another walk. We went for our last walk the morning he went to heaven.

There was no dawdling on walks – except to sniff, and sniffing was a MUST. It was a way for him to satiate his curiosity, and in my mind, his desire to learn. (I tried to remind myself of this when I grew impatient waiting for him to finish sniffing what seemed like a single blade of grass.)

Also in true lab form, Murdock often carried something on our walks. As a pup, he found things along the way: a stick, a plastic bottle, even a feather. Once he was older, he carried stuffed animals. I loved watching the faces of drivers going by as they saw a 70 pound dog carrying a stuffed sloth. He never carried it all the way. A dog carrying a stuffed animal = cute. A grown adult carrying a stuffed animal = not cute.

As he got older, he became even more feisty and would dictate the route we walked. He would stop dead in his tracks if I were going the “wrong” direction, and stand absolutely still until I went the “correct” way.

I read once that you should think of walks as your dog’s time. They live in a small world, and it opened exponentially when they could sniff and explore. I never listened to music or podcasts when we walked, I never brought my phone – I just watched his sheer joy, greeted the other dogs and parents as they went by, and enjoyed our time together. Our walks became my favorite parts of the day.

I have walked nearly every day since he left. Taking a walk was the first thing I did the first morning I awoke without him. It has helped me immensely. At first, it was because it made me feel close to him – I could feel him trotting along beside me.  But now, I do it for me, it’s my time. To feel the fresh air. To see what’s new in my neighborhood and explore new streets. To be in that temporary bubble, without noise or interference. And, best of all, to remember my very favorite of times. Who knew that all those sniffs and all those steps were not just teaching him – he was teaching me.

What are the lessons your soulmate has left you?