Libby

Hard to remember when Libby wasn't around Don and Lynette's place.

Chronologically it was 15 years, but her presence was bigger than that, but as it must come to all of us, Libby slipped away this morning early with the help of a gentle vet and Don by her side.

The last few weeks especially had been hard for those who loved her and much harder for Libby as the age and arthritis had ravaged her back legs and hips.

She joins K-Bar, Don's first German Shepherd, in a quiet, shady tree-line only 50 yards from the family she loved.

Next to her rests Spunky, the family pet of Lynette's sister, Robbin and her husband,

Steve. He succumbed to the ravages of diabetes only a short time before.

 

He was a joyful visitor at Don and Lynette's as well, always falling into fourth or fifth place behind the other dogs. His spirit was willing, but his legs were short.

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The effectiveness of insulin and his warm and caring people were no longer enough to stave off the disease.

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Just two or three weeks ago, Spunky went to sleep and was brought to the place--other than his home--he knew best.

Ironically, just a couple of days ago I took out a nice, soft dog bed for Libby's kennel; the last time I saw her she was tucked in and looked comfortable.

This morning Don had a tough time getting her out of he kennel. The end had come.

Every time I think of her I think of Tripoli and the hours on end they would chase once another, play and patrol the perimeter, warning away squirrels, birds and cows and the errant plastic bag pushed along by the wind.

Pick was added to the Pettigrew clan and we're convinced that her incessant pup-energy extended Libby's days and added to her quality of life. She was still chasing Pick and making sure she knew who was still the Alpha female just a few days ago.

Perhaps in some sun-lit, rolling meadow Tripoli has greeted first Spunky and now Libby, spotting them from afar in that hesitant-eager way that dogs have... then rushing to a rough and tumble reunion, strong and healthy and absent of pain.

I have to believe that it will be so on my arrival as well.

All sentiments about dogs in Heaven have been expressed... some in cliches perhaps, but most with genuine emotion.

I cannot imagine a place so grand as the Here After without all my very, very best  friends.

Without them such a place would be diminished.

"The biggest problem with dogs is that they don't live long enough. They always seem to leave us when we're most vulnerable, most in need of their biased, affirming presence. Dogs make us believe we can actually be as they see us, and it's often only when they're gone that we realize their role in what we've become."

                                                                    -- The Monks of New Skete