"Beard"

Well, I just read "Beard" and it depressed me but in a good way. Now, reading this, you might ask how can depression be a good thing? All I'm saying is that, the story did what it was supposed to do. It was supposed to move you and make you an emotional wreck. At least, that's what I believe. I liked the reading. I liked the story line and the ways that the characters were introduced and described. The ideas associated with the old and decrepit dog were incredibly sad for me but I'm a total fan of dogs. (So in other words, I might just be biased.) The woman starts out talking about the sky. She describes planets as she waits for the dog to go to the bathroom. At the end of the story she talks about the planets and stars again. I thought it was a cool touch. Catch me if I'm wrong but it’s almost as if at the beginning her life was a mess and the universe was there, still living and after she loses Chris and other friends the planets and stars are still in the sky, living and comforting those who look upon them. I feel as though it’s leaving you with the whole "people die, but life goes on" idea. (This post is a little scattered..but so are my thoughts!)"I get his coat and follow him into the cold November night; there are stars and stars and stars. The sky is full of dead men drifting in the blackness like helium balloons my mother floats past in a hospital gown, trailing tubes. I go back inside where the heat is." This section from the story was particularly moving for me. I think it hits me because when I was younger, I lost my mom to lung cancer and so the image of "mother floating by in a hospital gown trailing tubes" is one thing that I remember vividly. So perhaps this story wasn't meant to be upsetting at all, but because I was pre-exposed to death of a loved one and have a love for dogs, the story upset me just that much more.