When I was 12 years old and in the 6th grade, we lived on a military base - Ft. Rucker, Alabama. My dog, Governer, would follow me to school every day, and they would let him stay. He layed on the floor next to my desk. When we went to lunch, all the kids would save little bits of food for him - especially the pork chop bones - and he would have his own little feast for the rest of the day before we walked home.
He was the first pet I ever really remember losing, and it was the first time I ever really had to deal with death. And, to this day, it is probably still the hardest one.
When I was younger, I always thought that I would be a veterinarian when I grew up. Maybe I should have. But the pain of animals bothered be so much more than the pain of people. Maybe I should have been a doctor. So, after Governor died, I knew I'd never be a vet. I knew I would cry every day that I lost someone's pet, and I couldn't endure that for the rest of my life.
When my sister Hazel lost her dog, Dolph, I called her. She was fine, until I started crying and that got her crying. She would probably have been better off if I had never called her.
And now my friend Anna has lost her dog Freya, and it effects me deeply. Anna has been with Freya since Freya was a pup. Just look at the size of those ears!
When Anna was going through her divorce, she moved in with me for a while, with Freya. Freya was so young and full of energy and almost too much to handle. Anna wondered whether or not she should keep Freya and I told her that Freya would grow up to be a wonderful dog. I loved Freya!
Freya stayed with Anna's ex-husband for a while. But soon Anna found out that Freya was being neglected and was malnourished and would not live long under those conditions. Anna was able to get Freya back and took painstaking effort to nurse her back to health, even though she never fully recovered.
But Freya never lost her spunk! And together, Anna and Freya saw each other through good times and hard times. That makes for a closeness beyond compare.
Freya did grown into her ears, and loved her toys, and had the most happy, deep groan whenever she saw me and I hugged her. She was full of love!!
Dogs have souls and go to Heaven... it must be. I just hope that the cat Heaven is on the other side.
