Our beloved Willow Girl past away before our eyes on July 4, 2004. We had traveled to my husband’s hometown of Cloquet, Minnesota to celebrate the holiday as well as my mother-in-law’s birthday which happens to be on the 4th.
We were at my brother-in-law Billy’s home at the edge of town, picking wildflowers amongst the beautiful natural gardens on his land. My husband, daughter and son were there, as well as our niece and brother in law. We were getting prepared to have a birthday party.
Willow was with us, hunting away with her tail “circling” and “wagging” as she always did. You see, hunting was what she loved to do most! She was so happy when she could run amongst the flowers and point out every bird, bug, and moth that crossed her path. It was such a beautiful and peaceful day!
When we were collecting flowers from the front of the property, we heard tires screeching and a yelp from Willow Girl. When I looked, a car had stopped and Willow was against the curb. I ran with all of my might to her, not wanting to believe what I had just seen. When I reached her, she made two silent attempts to raise herself up with her front legs, but to no avail. Within one minute, she was gazing forward, and all color left her face. It was over. All I could do was hold my baby in my arms while rocking her precious body. My baby was gone.
The rest of our family soon arrived to say good-bye to our treasured mate. We had twelve people in all and we set out as a group to bury Willow on Billy’s land. My brother-in-law, Steve read from a prayer book, my Mother-in-Law passed around Holy Water that we could all sprinkle on her, and my sister-in-law, Robin started singing “Oh Beautiful, for Spacious Skies”, it was absolutely touching. We all took turns remembering our love for Willow and the great love she gave to us.
When we left town to go home, the weather had turned ominous. The rain was falling with intense fury and we had to put our belongings into plastic bags just to get to the car. It was the saddest drive we had ever taken. After about 20 minutes on the road, my husband and I were talking of pulling off the highway because it was getting very hard to see through the downpour. Just as we had decided to do so, something incredible happened. A bright ray of sunshine gleamed into our van. As I looked out the window, there was one big blue circle in the sky, shining down on us, while the rest of our surroundings were still dark and erie. At the same moment, I read the road sign the said “Willow River”! I looked at my husband and kids in disbelief, and as quickly as that, the blue sky was gone and the rain continued to pour! I feel that our Willow Girl left us the most wonderful gift of all! She let us know that she was all right. It was as is she wrapped a warm ray of sunshine around our family. For this, we are truly blessed. We all know that we will meet her again. She helped our family through some hard times in her eight short years on earth, but we are all convinced that she has other lives to change.
Until we meet again,
| Willow Girl |
| 4, July 2004 |
| Blake and Amy Anderson |