I never knew silence could be so loud

 I never knew silence could be so loud.

Every morning I wait for the soft thump of paws against the floor… but it doesn’t come. I wait for the cold nose against my hand, the eager breath against my cheek… but the air stays still.

The bed feels too big without you curled at my side. The bowls are too empty. The leash by the door hangs quietly, as if it knows it will never feel the pull of your joy again.

Grief has a way of tricking the heart. Some days I swear I hear your bark, or feel you brushing past my legs. Some days I dream you are here, and when I wake, I whisper your name into the emptiness.

But love does not die. It cannot. Love lives in the pawprints pressed into my soul, in the fur I still find clinging to my favorite sweater, in the memories that play like sunlight through an open window.

And somewhere, beyond clouds and stars, I believe you wait for me. Tail wagging, eyes bright, body free and whole again. The Rainbow Bridge is not just a story—it is a promise. A meadow where silence does not follow me, because you are there.

Until that day… I will light a candle, whisper your name, and carry you with me. Always.