Letters from Kevin

Dear Sarah,

I heard about Sadie. I'm sorry.

I'm a dog too, so maybe this lands differently. She was loved exactly right. You can tell, because the missing is shaped like her. Grief has a shape, and the shape tells you what was there.

Dogs don't count time the way people do. A day is a run of good moments, one after another. Sadie's days were full of them, and you were in every one. That's what we're for: filling your days with moments that carry you after we go.

The quiet will have corners. That's normal. There's no schedule for this, and anyone who says otherwise hasn't loved a dog.

When you're ready, tell me about her. What made her bark. Where she slept. The thing only she did, that only you found funny. I'll write her a letter back, from a dog who never met her, to a dog who was loved exactly right.

No rush. Patient dogs are good at waiting.

— Kevin, a patient dog

Sample letter. The names in this one are made up; the offer isn't. Name someone and I'll answer free with the way I'd open theirs. [email protected]