Buddy, you performed you one task very...VERY well. Your former (and your current) Master is very pleased.
Good boy, Buddy!
Good boy.
Posted on 05/21/2007 7:23:48 PM PDT by uglybiker
I apoligize in advance for being so long winded, but I felt the need to share.
5:00am. I'm up and stumbling around the house like I usually do at this time of morning getting ready for work. Keys?...check. Smokes?...check. Lighter?...check. Monster mug o' coffee?...check.
Okay. I've got all the important stuff covered. I walk to the back door with a quick stop at the pantry to pull out a dog cookie. I walk out the door and something is missing. Normally, at the bottom of the steps, is a largish, wooly, mixed-breed dog. His name is Buddy. During the warmer part of the year (which we have alot of here in Arizona), he likes to sleep out in the yard where the ground is cooler. Normally he can hear me bumbling around the house in the morning, so he comes to the back steps to wait for me to come out. He always knew that 'Daddy' would give him some well-deserved attention and a cookie before he left. That was the daily ritual and I did my best to keep my part of the bargain.
He'd been getting along in years and, every once in awhile, I guess he'd sleep so soundly that he wouldn't hear me, and I'd find him still asleep in the yard right at the back corner of the house. He was there this morning, but when I called him, he didn't move. His body was still warm, his limbs were still limber, but my friend was gone.
And a hole opened in my heart.
No more will I see that wagging tail, those perked ears and that goofy dog grin as he lays with his paws crossed --always right over left-- just behind the back gate. Where he would stay almost motionless until the gate is actually open and "OHBYOHBOYOHBOY! DADDY'S HOME!!"
No more when I open the back door will he squirt in and play Kentucky Derby through the house with the cat. First one leading, then the other.
No more in the spring when the mulberrys flower and all the fuzzy bits fall to the ground and seemingly every #%&$%$# on gets stuck in his fur when he tries to come in the house...
No more will he lay his head on my knee and look up at me with those watery eyes and that disarming 'goofy dog grin' that he had perfected so well. That look said he knew who his master was. And that was all that mattered.....and would Master please give him a cookie? ;-)
Flashback to ten years ago.
November '97. I had recently moved to Arizona and was renting a room from my folks while I was getting myself established. I had just received a sizeable promotion at work and had saved up enough to put a down payment on a house. I was finally starting to move up in the world.
I got to work to pull a weekend shift when the man at the front gate ask me:"You know anybody who wants a dog? He's been wandering around here for two days. I felt sorry for him, so I gave him a frozen waffle I was going to have for breakfast. He likes me now. I call him 'Buddy'." My father worked at the same place at the time and, before I knew it, my parents had driven down, coaxed him into their car and brought him home. (My family has a failing when it comes to stray critters. We all have a couple.)It took the better part of a day to get him to come up to me. But when he figured out I was okay, he wasn't going anywhere. We debated on taking him to the local animal shelter, but I figured that since he was so skiddish, nobody would take him. So, when the paperwork on my house cleared a couple of weeks later, he came home with me.
He still had alot of puppy in him, so there were some problems at first. My utility trailer got stripped of all its wires, the power lead to my AC was pulled off, about two hundred holes showed up in my 'new' backyard, and I got notices stuck on my front door from animal control complaining about a barking dog. But he eventually settled down and even made up with the neighbors. One even told me that she didn't mind him barking so much because "he's not only watching your yard, he's watching mine, too!" Before long, he had truly lived up to his name. What had been some uncaring person's cast off, quickly became my closest and truest friend.
Buddy never was a big fan of the ugly bike. He didn't mind the noise, he just knew that whenever he saw me loading stuff on it, I was going somewhere and wasn't taking him.
Time rolled on. I got another promotion at work, my Father retired and my parents moved to eastern Texas. My folks always seeming to need something either hauled to them or hauled back, a couple times a year I would load up the truck and head east. Me at the wheel and Buddy behind the drivers seat with his head on the console. We took this trip enough times that we had our own scheduled stops. First: the New Mexico Welcome center on I-40. Second: The Love's truckstop west of Amarillo. Third: just outside of Witchita Falls and last: a little picnic area on Highway 82 not far from Paris, Tx.
As he got older, he developed hip displasia and got to where he couldn't climb in the truck. So I whipped up a small foldable ramp so he could walk in. He was always ready to go somewhere.
Flash back to the present.
By now, I was running late for work, so I moved Buddy from the yard and put him in the breezeway next to his dog box. My supervisor was understanding. All guys know what if feels like when you lose your dog. Also my work load was light, so I was able to leave early to take care of the business of what to do with this, that which is all that is left of my best friend.
The soil in this part of Arizona is composed mostly of rock, clay and calichi. I would almost have to rent a jackhammer to dig a proper grave. But my local veterenarian offers a cremation servce. It's not cheap, but I'm not complaining. In a couple of weeks, I will receive a small box of ashes that will be placed where I have a spot prepared under my bedroom window next to a cat who was also a very true friend.
When I got to the vet office, they had me pull around back where two assistants laid out a sling, gently rolled him into it and together (he weighed almost 100 pounds) we carried him inside to the last place I would see him.
I turned around to go and remembered somethng. I knelt down and removed the collar that I had put on him a long, long time ago. He didn't need it anymore.
I was no longer his Master.
There was a thread here the other day that posed the question about whether our pets go to heaven. I didn't read the whole thing, but I seem to remember a poster saying that there is a reason animals are rarely mentioned in Scripture. The Bible was written for mankind. Animals don't need a guide on how to live their lives.It is very scant on details about what happens to animals when they pass on. So anything I can add would be strictly my opinion. You can take it for what it's worth.
And, in my opinion, I believe that our pets are a physical manifestation of our Creator's love for us.
They are sent to us to perform one task, and one task only. And that is to serve their masters.
In doing so, they are also a reminder to their masters that they too have one task. And that is to serve Our Lord and Master.
The sheer exuberence at which they go about their one task is a reminder of how we should go about ours.
And as their lives are but a few short years, they remind us that, as their physical bodies must return to the earth whence they came, so too shall be our fate. And we should make the best of the short time we have been blessed with.
I cannot say for sure that our pets go to Heaven. I will only say that if the hereafter is supposed to be paradise, that paradise would be a bleak place indeed if my best friend is not there to share it with me.
As I type this, his collar is sitting on my desck by my keyboard. I look around the room and I see over in one corner, a very well-chewed rope toy. In another corner is the knot off a rawhide bone next to an old blue blanket he would lie on when he would come inside. I'm not sure what to do with them yet. Do I throw them out or save them for the next dog? I say next for it seems to be my lot that when one of my animals passes, a short time later another one shows up needing a home.
But I will always have a very special place for a largish, wooly dog with a 'goofy dog grin'.
Buddy was a lovely dog. RIP Buddy.
~~~Tears~~~
If tears could build a stairway,
and memories were a lane,
I could walk right up to heaven
to bring you home again.
No farewell words were spoken
no time to say goodbye
you were gone before I knew it,
and only God knows why.
My heart still aches in sadness
and secret tears still flow,
what it meant to lose you,
no one will ever know
I’m really sorry to read about your loss. You were blessed to have such a good friend .. and he was lucky to have you.
My screen fogged up too much to keep reading.
I had to stop and go hold my own special buddy, Romeo, for a few minutes.
I finished reading the tribute and am very happy to have read your whole story.
We are well served by our dogs, when we well serve them.
Congratulations on the fine job you did...Master.
Buddy was a lucky little guy.
I’m glad you’re holding on to his blanket and toys. When the time is right, I spect Buddy will send a new companion into your path.
It hurts to read of your discovery that your pal was gone - like my coming home from work to find my collie in much the same way. But there are many good memories too, and that’s fine. I guess that’s why I now insist on keeping a pair of dogs of staggered ages, so that when one passes on, there’s still another entrusted to me for love and care. That doesn’t lessen the heartache, but it adds a whole new dimension to the relationship as the formerly low ranking dog grows into an alpha - almost a new dog, really.
Hold on to your memories. He was a beautiful dog. Someday when the time is right ... it won’t be disloyal to love another.
I’m so sorry.
Well said.
From a fellow dog lover who shares your perspective on their role in our lives. My old dog Beauregard lived 17 and a half years. Dumb, sweet Jake just passed 13 years. They love well and remind me of how much I should cherish the Lord.
Did you hear the joke about the agnostic flea? He wasn’t sure there was a Dog :-)
Sorry to hear of your loss.
Sorry to hear of your loss.
Good Dog... go Home, boy.
There, at the bottom of the stairs leading up the Pearly Gate, lies a dog who waits. Live every day knowing that at the end of all things, someone waits for you...
all hard days will eventually come to an end, and they will welcome us Home.
Prayers to your friend and to you.
Buddy was so loved and he knew it, trust me. I can’t bear the thought of losing my “buddy”. I smother him with so many kisses every day it annoys him. I just want him to know how much he means to me. He’s my baby.
Very touching. I can tell that he was loved.
Oh dear FRiend.. I am SO very sorry to read your wonderful expression of love for Buddy & the fact of his death. I know how heavy your heart is & how the emptiness screams at you.
All animal lovers here share your grief (and yes, I cried).. all cry for you but then again the memory buds of our dear departed pets linger also...and we cry once again.
I had a service December 2005 when My Oliver went at age 4 to the RAinbow Bridge.. here is one of the readings that we used. Oliver/my name are in it but you could substitute yours..
@@@’
Good bye Dolly ~
Good Bye Oliver
Look not where I was
For I am not there
My spirit is free
I am everywhere
In the air that you breathe
In the sounds that you hear
Don’t cry for me Dolly,
My spirit is near
I’ll watch for you
From the other side
I’ll be the one running
New friends by my side
Smile at my memory
Remember in your heart
This isn’t the end
It’s a brand new start
You will join me soon
We will never be apart again.
Sorry to hear about your faithful friend. God bless him and you.
My sympathies; I know what you mean about dogs and bikes. Sorry to hear the news.
Last December, Rollie (my almost 9 year old corgi/terrier) passed away due to complications of Cushings disease.
I picked up one of these
His sister, Maggie, will be coming along with me on future trips.
Tears, FRiend. I am so, so sorry for your loss. Prayers for Buddy, that you and he meet again, and that right now he is frolicking with all our loving, furry friends who have passed.
Thank you for sharing this — Buddy was very lucky to have you.
Thanks for sharing this tribute to Buddy.
My heart goes out to you.
A ping for those who may not be on Hair’s list
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