Muff Would Have Loved This Book

This is how I believe my best friend passed from this world:

"It is not the end.
She died that night. Her last breath took her soul, I saw it in my dream. I saw her soul leave her body as she exhaled, and then she had no more needs, no more reason; she was released from her body, and being released, she continued her journey elsewhere, high in the firmament where soul material gathers and plays out all the dreams and joys of which we temporal beings can barely conceive,all the things that are beyond our comprehension, but even so, are not beyond our attainment if we choose to attain them, and believe that we truly can."
From "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein

I think that Muff believe her dog Kelly was a human covered in a dog suit, and she would have understood Enzo, the dog that narrates this book. He longs to be reincarnated as a human. His final thoughts are these:

"When I return to this world, I will be a man. I will walk among you. I will lick my lips with my small, dexterous tongue. I will shake hands with other men, grasping firmly with my opposable thumbs. And I will teach people all that I know. And when I see a man or a woman or a child in trouble, I will extend my hand, both metaphorically and physically. I will offer my hand. To him. To her. To you. To the world. I will be a good citizen, a good partner in the endeavor of life that we all share."
Ibid.

And finally, she would have appreciated this excerpt about driving as a metaphor for life, because Muff really lived her life, and she was generous with the giving of herself to others and to humanity.

"I know this much about racing in the rain. I know it is about balance. It is about anticipation and patience. I know all of the driving skills that are necessary for one to be successful in the rain. But racing in the rain is also about the mind! It is about owning one's own body. About believing that one's car is merely an extension of one's body, about believing that the track is an extension of the car, and the rain is an extension of the track and the sky is an extension of the rain. It is about believing that you are not you; you are everything. And everything is you."
Ibid