The reproachful sigh

“I was watching my favorite show last night”, my mother once told me. She’s a NCIS fan. “I was caught up in the action, the next moment the blood froze in my veins.” I look at her; she’s been an ER Nurse all her life, she’s doesn’t scare easily. There are tears in her eyes. I touch her hand. “Mom?!” “Somebody sighed, just next to me. And I was alone in the room.”

My mind runs to and fro but I don’t have time for criminal investigations. My mother bursts into laughter. “It was Tara!”

Our dog’s bedtime ritual consisted of going to bed early, when my dad would retire. Then a couple of hours later she would wake up, find mom by the TV and WAIT for her to come to bed. Wait patiently then slowly becoming restless until she would sigh. A nasal, long sigh, all the time keeping her back at her. It was Tara’s reproachful, emphasized sigh: “how much longer will you keep ME awake?”

The grumpy sigh

My husband and I had a big yard and Gina, a mature Doberman crossed Rottweiler, when we decided to adopt a puppy of the same mix. That’s how Athos rolled into our lives, a compact mass of black fur. For a few months Gina had nothing to do with the curious intruder. At first she would get up and move as soon as he came near her, like he had the plague. Later on she would just switch on her siren. Puppy approaching? Grumpy sigh on and Athos would keep his distance.

The happy sigh

This is the full of expectations sigh, the “I can SEE into your eyes that you ARE going to play with me” sigh. Usually accompanied by a head pressed tight against you. The sigh no dog should be without. It is my favorite sigh.