The arrival of all the Christmas cards from long lost friends is with every year that passes, increasingly sad. News of death, and of appalling illness visited on those you love is always heart breaking.
But this morning through the post came a card from one of my best friends in Essex......She has a new dog!
After my husband died my dog walking friends took me in hand and coped with tears. long silences, the occasional outburst and all the other signs of bereavement.
There were four women and five dogs....all different shapes and sizes. Crispin is the last of that generation, all the others are now happy memories...
Jen has always had dogs but with the death of her last one came the determination never to put herself through the trauma of losing one again...She has kept to it for a few years but the new dog has now arrived and its made me ridiculously happy to get its photo along with the Christmas card.
Jen was a history teacher and has a weird way of giving her dogs names.
The first one I knew was Win, a lovely old mongrel who lived till she was around 15. Her name was Winston Spencer Churchill, always shortened to Win unless she was in trouble when she got all three shouted very loudly!
The next dog was also a bitch. She was a gloriously elegant long legged Vymarana, all long ears and blue eyes...and great fun! Her name was Otto Von Bismark...shortened to Ottoline...She and Crispin were great friends as young dogs...he got wet and flushed out the game that she picked up delicately....they made a great team.
The new dog, a large golden puppy which could be either sex and possibly a labrador...has another good name. She is called Sigismunde Lonestart.....or Ziggy for short!
I am beaming all over my face this morning....A dog brings so much to us...and now I can stop worrying for my friends dogless state....Life is complete again!
2 comments:
We still miss our Dog, who died 5 years ago. We were determined not to replace her, but seemed to overcompensate with Cats.
We now have more than enough to keep us happy and busy. 4 who live in, who we officially own, and another 5 who are lodgers, live in the garden, but in this cold weather are all indoors as well.
If you can imagine the chaos as feeding time, each wants their own individual plate, in their own place, where they can spy others, to see if they prefer theirs, and go and push them off.
Some eat outdoors or in the conservatory. It takes two, very patient people to follow each cat, plate of food in hand, to the place where they decide they should eat.
But we love them all. We've had cats throughout our marriage - Jen had 4 before we married, so she came with the package. And I've learned to love them as she does.
Pets add to the quality of life in so many ways. One particular cat, Sultan, loves laying alongside you on the bed. He radiates heat, and we have no need of a hot water bottle while he is there.
The ancient Egyptians knew something about Cats, but I can't see us having them embalmed and laid to rest with us. When they pass, they are cremated and their ashes go back to help nature grow more green stuff.
Ernie I seriously doubt I could ever have your commitment to so many animals....we lost our cat this year and although he has not been replaced....we do occasionally look at other peoples cats with an envious stare.......one day maybe!
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