The Old Gray Goose

Last weekend Gordon, the dogs and I stayed at a Lake House on Alder Lake outside of Eatonville.  We had an amazing time together....we sat on the dock, I read....Gordon fished....we truly relaxed in a way I didn't think was possible.  Gordon searched for this place with it's glassy lake that was so quiet it hurt our ears, and at night we saw more stars than either of us had ever seen....and it was like we could see the curviture of the Earth....we lost ourselves there.
On one of the days we went for a walk.  We had both had a nap and when Gordon wakes from a nap he has tons of energy....and so with his energy we took the dogs and walked along the road that went by the lake.
While we were walking we came across a Gander....the reason I noticed him was because I wasn't sure if he was wild or not, he just looked beautiful....he was also very vocal....we wondered why he was by himself and not with his gagle....and then as we got closer, we noticed his girl....she was laying down and he stood by her.  It took us a little bit to figure out that she was sick, and we really didn't know what to do.  But we knew we couldn't interfere....and so we watched them for a few minutes...the Gander squaking, his mate just lying there.
This picture stuck with me....I'm not sure why, but just the beauty of a male standing by his "girl" as she tried to get better....it felt like he was keeping vigil.
The next day we came by, and there he was facing the lake, and she was lying next to him...dead....but because geese are the way they are....he was still with her.....he was mourning her.  Even my girls didn't mourn their mamma....they missed her, but they didn't say goodbye in a way that we did....they seemed lost for a bit, but not sad....this guy was sad.
And so we went back to the house and talked about him, and thought about their life together....I wondered if he would die with her.
We had to go back to town and so I brought a baguette with us to feed him so he didn't starve during his vigil.....when we got there he was gone, just his girl there by the lake....not her but her shell.
For most of my adult life I have argued with people about whether or not animals have souls....I have always known they do....I've felt it when animals have "left"....I felt it when Layla left....but for a wild creature to sit by his "girl" like Gordon would for me....I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have them....and that they go to Heaven because they don't choose evil....they are pure....and like Will Rogers said, "If dogs don't go to Heaven, I want to go where they do."
And so that night at dinner, we prayed for the Gander....I sang "Go Tell Aunt Rhody", and we enjoyed the quiet of our lake even more, feeling reverent about the Goose and her Gander who stood by as long as he could.
I know that animals don't dwell, but I wonder if he thought of her as he flew, if he felt the emptiness of her lack of presence....if he missed her.  I hope he's doing better now....I hope he's found a group, or his group and is getting ready to fly south....and I know she's watching over him....grateful to have found such a mate.....we should all be so blessed.