What do good boys get?
Answer: They get love.
I’ve been trying for a couple of days to deal with the news that my parents’ dog Sierra has died.
Most of you know that I’m definitely a cat person. Pretty much always have been, though I have, by and large, liked my folks’ other dogs: Chien and Shanna, Mai Tai and, now, Tinker.
But Sierra was special.
He was, without a doubt, the sweetest, most patient, most cheerful dog I’ve ever known. He was an Austrailian Shepherd and so had a bobbed tail as is the norm for the breed. The lack of a tail didn’t stop his exuberant expressions, though: When he was happy to see you (and he was always happy to see you), he’d wag his butt and greet you with a chipper “Wrroo-wrroo-wrroo!”
He liked to push a half clam shell around my parents’ backyard porch, and could entertain himself (and, by extension, we spectators) for hours with an empty two-liter soda bottle.
In his younger days, he’d sometimes get on the sofas and push the cushions off while we humanfolk were out. But doggone it if he didn’t really seem to feel really guilty when we’d point at the couch and ask, “What is this?!”
He was affectionate and even licky without being slobbery. (A big fan of slobber I am not.)
He and I used to play tug-of-war with his rope toy. He’d make these fierce gutteral noises that meant nothing more vicious than, “Oh, I’m gonna win this time!”
When I spent the holidays with my parents last month, it was very hard for me to see Sierra, the bouncing, playful dog of my memory still as sweet as ever but now hobbled by a body that was betraying him. The pup that used to scamper back and forth to his basket of toys was struggling to even stand.
My mom and my dad both had kind of warned me before my visit that the end was nigh but, upon my seeing him, the tears still flowed.
Those tears returned Tuesday night.
From: Mom
To: Kevin, LisaSweet Sierra
1992-2006
We will miss him. There will never be another dog like him.
My condolences, dude.
I’m so sorry for your loss. I hope this will bring you some comfort. They’re with us for *such* a terribly short time.
Wendy
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RAINBOW BRIDGE
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Just this side of heaven is a place called the Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to the Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor;
those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body begins quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together….
Author unknown…