“Age is a high price to pay for maturity.” — Tom Stoppard
Griffin, our Labrador Retriever, will turn ten this spring. Aging. Maturing. Growing a little heavier and little slower and a little less interested in other dogs.
Truth be told, Griffin has always been an old soul. Since at least the day we selected him as a pup from his barnyard litter in Lamoille County, Vermont only a couple of months after Tasha, his predecessor, shuffled off this mortal coil. Something about his eyes. Wise. Contemplative.
So little by little his chronological age is catching up with his looks’ and demeanor’s age. And so we say that he is maturing. As am I. And yet, we are both resolutely short of reaching maturity. For now.