When dogs grow up...

Ever since our cat died last spring, AJ has asked a lot of questions about death. I've stumbled through them the best I can, made sure not to compare it to sleeping and simply tried to reassure him that he's not going to die any time soon.

Thankfully, so far, AJ seems to think that death is something that only happens to cats, old people who get sick and that man on the penny who was shot by John Wilkes Booth. (How he remembers that odd bit of history is beyond me.)

But last night, he started asking about Maggie. How old is she? When is she going to die?

I told him that even though Maggie is getting older, she's perfectly healthy, so he doesn't need to worry about her. I then made an assumption that his next question would be about our other cat, and told him that Spike seems like she'll be sticking around for a while too.

That wasn't where his train of thought was going. He instead sought reassurance about my parents' West Highland Terrier. "But Dudley's not going to die. He's still a puppy."

I told him Dudley was healthy too, though he actually is a few months older than Maggie.

That shocked him. "But when is he going to get big?"

I suspect Dudley, as he's watched Maggie, a few other dogs and my children all outgrow him, has wondered that same question.