Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a recurring holiday in Toby’s life, first registered as an enticing human celebration from which he is absent, and later as a warm annual occasion in the hospice where people and treats make him feel included and useful.

An Elusive Celebration

One Thanksgiving, CJ and Trent left Toby alone for several hours. When they returned, the smells of the holiday clung to their clothes and hands, filling the building with traces of a celebration he had not shared. Toby sniffed them suspiciously and wondered whether people could have Thanksgiving without a dog; from his perspective, the idea seemed unlikely. The scene makes the holiday legible through scent and absence: its pleasures reach him, but only after the people he belongs with have been away.

A Yearly Hospice Gathering

Years later, Thanksgiving has become a dependable feature of Toby’s hospice life. Each year brings many people, many smells, and many treats for a dog who considers them deserved. The celebration contrasts with his earlier exclusion: now the gathering itself includes him, and its abundance helps sustain his sense that he has a purpose. That purpose is less specific than caring for CJ, but Thanksgiving belongs to a period in which Toby feels important as a dog who belongs to no one and yet to everyone.