Based on 106 community votes, the most popular answer to “The Dog at Plot 34 and the Finish Line I Ran Alone” is “Go to his grave and speak aloud” — chosen by 27% of voters.
Category: heartwarming • Theme: 🌱 Second Chances
I heard our song last week in Kroger, somewhere between the off-brand cornflakes and the oatmeal. "Drift Away," the old Dobie Gray version, thin through the ceiling speakers. I put my hand on a box of Cheerios and just stayed there. That song used to come on every time we drove to town. Not always the same station, not always the same stretch of road, but somehow there it was. You would tap the steering wheel, and the dog would shove his head between the seats like he was listening too. I think it was still warm out the morning I first saw him at Plot 34 in the back row of Mount Olive Cemetery, around 7am. Just your mutt, ribs showing, sitting on the grass like he was clocking in. The groundskeeper said he’d been there almost two years, seven hundred and thirty mornings, after I went. They told me from the hospital bed I wouldn’t walk again without help. Wouldn’t finish another race. You just said, "We’ll see," and scratched the dog’s ear. I crossed a charity 5K finish line last month with a cane and a stranger’s arm, and you weren’t there. Now the dog sleeps in my hallway but still finds his way back to your stone by noon. Every morning, I turn on the car in the driveway and wait for our song before I go anywhere. I don’t know who I’m waiting for. What would YOU do?
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