下面是小编整理的英语散文：Waiting at the Door，希望对大家有帮助。

Waiting at the Door

By Barbara J. Crocker

My grandmother became a widow in 1970. Shortly after that, we went to the animal shelter topick out a puppy to keep her company. Grandma decided on a little terrier that had a reddish-brown spot above each eye. Because of these spots, the dog was promptly named Penny.

Grandma and Penny quickly became very attached to each other, but that attachment grewmuch stronger about three years later when Grandma had a stroke. Grandma could no longerwork, so when she came home from the hospital, she and Penny were constant companions.

After her stroke, it became a real problem for Grandma to let Penny in and out because thedoor was at the bottom of a flight of stairs. So a mechanism using a rope and pulley wasinstalled from the back door to a handle at the top of the stairs. Grandma just had to pull thehandle to open and close the door. If the store was out of Penny’s favorite dog food, Grandmawould make one of us cook Penny browned beef with diced potatoes in it. I can rememberteasing my grandmother that she loved that dog better than she loved her family.

As the years passed, Grandma and Penny became inseparable. Grandma’s old house could befilled to the brim with people, but if Grandma went to take her nap, Penny walked along besideher and stayed by her side until she awoke. As Penny aged, she could no longer jump up on thebed to lay next to Grandma, so she laid on the rug beside the bed. If Grandma went into thebathroom, Penny would hobble along beside her, wait outside the door and accompany herback to the bed or chair. Grandma never went anywhere without her faithful companion byher side.

The time came when both my grandmother and Penny’s health were failing fast. Penny couldn’tget around very well, and Grandma had been hospitalized several times. My uncle and I livedwith Grandma, so Penny was never left alone, even when Grandma was in the hospital. Duringthese times, Penny sat at the window looking out for the car bringing Grandma home and wouldexcitedly wait at the door when Grandma came through it. Each homecoming was a grandreunion between the two.

On Christmas Day in 1985, Grandma was again taken to the hospital. Penny, as usual, satwatching out the window for the car bringing Grandma home. Two mornings later when the dogwoke up, she couldn’t seem to work out the stiffness in her hips as she usually did. The samemorning, she began having seizures. At age fifteen, we knew it was time. My mother and aunttook her to the veterinarian and stayed with her until the end.

Now the big dilemma was whether to tell Grandma while she was still in the hospital or wait.The decision was made to tell her while she was in the hospital because when we pulled up atthe house, the first thing Grandma would look for was her beloved Penny watching out thewindow and then happily greeting her at the door. Grandma shed some tears but said sheknew that it had to be done so Penny wouldn’t suffer.

That night while still in the hospital, Grandma had a massive heart attack. The doctorsfrantically worked on her but could not revive her. After fifteen years of loving companionship,Grandma and Penny passed away within a few hours of each other. God had it all worked out –Penny was waiting at door when Grandma came Home.