WhenBeauheardCharlie'sfriendly， enthusiasticvoice， hisentirebodywentintohiscustomarywaggingfrenzyandleanagainstyourthighposition， waitingforapetting， ， afrailbutlivelyeighty， violet-hairedEmmasatinbed， smiling， ， andBeau， leashedandalwaysobedient， wasuponthebedlyingdownbesideher， ， Max， ， accordingtoCharlie， wasthespittingimageofBeau.
Thenextdoor， room114， washometoKatherine， ， hugs， ， ， herbacktowardus， slouchedover， facingtheviewlesswindow.
， hewasatherleftside， ， ， ， ， hislongchinrestingonherlap.
IfyouknewBeau， you'， .Whentheclockchimed2：30p.m.， Irushedtosaygood-bye， stoodupandpulledthereluctantBeauout.
IaskedoneofthenurseswhyKatherinewascatatonic."Wedon'."
Allthewonderfulpeopleandanimalswhoblessedmylifeflashedinfrontofmyeyes， ， .
EveryMondaythereafter， BeauandImadeourroundstothehospitalityroom， stoppingtomakespecialvisitsinroom112tovisitCharlieandEmma， —CharliewavingusinandEmmapattingthebed， waitingforBeau'slicks， ， sittingdesolately， nosignoflifeexceptforhershallowbreathing.
， notcontentwithjust "being" ， meditativedog， teachingmehowto "be" andlovequietly， assuming "theposition" forthefifteenminuteswesatateachvisit.
Onourfourthvisit， IwasreadytobypassKatherine'sroom， 'sroomandtookhisfamiliarposeonherleftside， ， butsinceIhadabusinessmeetinglaterintheafternoonwithwhichIwaspreoccupied， ， Iremainedquiet， '， hewouldn'tbudge.
'shandwentuptothetopofBeau'， 'scustomaryresponseofnosenuzzlingandincreasedbodywagging， hecontinuedtostandlikeastatue， nevermovingfromhisspot.
Isatbackdowninsilentshock， andforthenexttenpreciousminutes， reveledinthestreamoflifeflowingbetweenKatherine'shandandBeau'-pasttwo， markingtheendofourfifteenminutes， Katherine'shandgentlyslidbackintoherlap， andBeauturnedtowalkoutofthedoor.
It''vegivenup， IamremindedofthepowerofBeau'， surelyIcantoo.
