1985 —- 2001
Dog
On Mothers day 1985 the children came back from their
paper route carrying a wriggling bundle of fur!
“What do you have there?” I asked suspiciously.
Sheepishly they exposed their find.
“Some one threw her away” they explained.
” We heard her crying and took the lid off the rubbish bin ..
we couldn’t just leave her there!” they said indignantly.
My heart went out to the defenseless creature nestled in their arms.
Who would be that cruel to another living animal?
“We will have to find her a home then!”
I replied secretly proud of their humane attitudes.
“Oh please won’t you keep her”?? one of them entreated
“There is already too much work to do feeding training and
caring for another dog is out of the question”
I said trying to remain stern and decisive as the small bundle of
puppy fur exuberantly covered me with “doggie kisses”.
“Its a mother’s day present” declared another.
I groaned at this subliminal form of blackmail that was a hard
one to resist. They insisted. Eventually I relented.
We already had a “grumpy” pedigree cocker spaniel by the
name of “Peter Pan” so it was only reasonable to name
her “Tinkerbell” to keep a “family” connection.
That magical name endowed its owner with a specialness that
lasted almost 17 years.
To this day no one can be sure what breed(s) she was.
When someone asked I would authoritatively respond “Bitza”
(for bits of this and that) and that seemed to satisfy most of them.
She was a breed unto herself.
Her face was that of a German shepherd her torso
(and love of the water) was that of a Labrador but her too-short
legs were similar to a Corgi.
All those breeds of dogs I have had (and loved) before
but none were ever as amazing as Tink.
As I sit here with heavy heart
(she left to wait for me at the rainbow bridge just yesterday)
I can think of a thousand amazing things she has done
of tricks she learned of autistic children in my practice she
seemed to reach when others couldn’t of all the love she
gave so unconditionally!
But for myself she taught me about life of living to the fullest
in spite of adversity.
She saved my spirit when it was so full of holes I was suicidal.
She saved my soul by her very example.
And she saved my body by learning to tow me to safety when
I was in danger of drowning from a heart condition in my pool
a couple years ago.
She was my “treasure” sent from above to see me through the
worst hardships of my life.
She was my “pet-soul-mate” and we will be forever connected by a
deep and abiding love of two kindred spirits.
One of my adopted daughters talked to me on the phone yesterday
and put it rather well: “when you think about it,you had her truly “with you”
longer than any of us kids and could confide in her about things and in ways
we will probably never understand”
How true that is. No wonder the sense of her loss is so deep.
Only another soul who has had that same type of relationship can truly
understand how precious that connection really is.
Its magic… there is no other word for it!
Thanks “stink bucket” for all that you “be” and all that you have
done to make me a better human being!
This family will never be quite the same without your physical
presence in it!
I love and miss you.. my best friend and
faithful companion.
4FR
| Tinkerbell |