A tribute to Grace, or trad lessons I learned from my dog!

[olddogrib]

It's been two weeks since we lost our English Bulldog "Grace", my constant companion of the past 11 years.  She didn't require much, other than when I made my frequent pilgrimages to the "hunting shack" in the Blue Ridge mountains, she had to go!  She loved swimming in the New River and tromping those hills. She'd begin a mournful howl from the first clue, typically me pulling on my hiking boots or filling the ice chest.  She wouldn't let up until I gave in a loaded her fat a** in my truck.
  Grace beat the longevity odds for the breed when she made it past 10 years.  They're heavy dogs with weak "tickers" and often a myriad of other health issues, all of which she was blessedly spared.  My wife, who affectionately referred to her sprawling mass as "floor art", ultimately admitted that other than her constant snoring and frequent gastrointestinal rumblings, she was a credit to the canine kingdom.  It was also she that observed that Grace seemd to "hold on" until she could get back to those hills one last time.  She'd been "losing a step" for a year or so, and in the end her old body just gave out.  On Easter Saturday, I noticed she was having trouble keeping up. By evening, her legs were wobbly and it was a struggle for her to stand.  There was no sign of distress or pain, only increasingly shallow breaths and quiet resolve. I monitored and petted her all night.  We were a hundred miles from emergency clinics, that ultimately could have done nothing.  At 5:00 AM she staggered to the door to go out into the unseasonably frigid night.  Animals seem to have an innate sense when their time comes, born I suppose of some primordial instinct for the weak to unburden the pack and lead predators away. When she didn't return, I found her lying in the ditch across the road and brought her back into the warm, where she hung on until dawn and passed.
  So the prayer here is for all of us, that we would live more like Grace, simply and selflessly.  Adore those you love without reservation, blind to their flaws. Cherish good company to keep.  Eat, drink, and sleep with gusto, and be absolutley obsessive about your "dirt time"! Oh, and know where that final journey will lead, so you can take it without regret!  RIP Grace....you're gone but not forgotten.

[Doc Nock]

Wow, Richard, so close on the heels of some powerful stuff in my life, that brought the tears just reading.  

Thank you for your heart to share such a tribute for the Grace-filled, Grace.

What a blessed passing for an old friend.  Good that you could be there to hold her and pet her thru the passing. We don't always get that even with our own kin.

Good words to live by to leave nothing of love left unsaid, even for a moment, or to take heed to the bible's suggestion to never let the sun set on a disagreement.

Tomorrow is not always an option.

Peace be with you and your wife as you adjust to a life without being Graced with Floor Art!

[olddogrib]

Thanks Dave, I thought I was better prepared to let her go.  My wife and I went and got custody of my grandson at 6 mos. of age due to abandonment by the "mother", while my son was on his 2nd of 3 tours in Iraq.  Grace was slow to warm to our new addition, but after many looks of disgust (which is pretty much the way they look all the time), she became his constant shield and defender.  He's 5 years old now and was also there to witness the natural end for all of this world's creatures. I thought he was blissfully unaware of the finality of what was happening, but in the end he took it quite hard. When he asked if dogs go to Heaven, all I could tell him was that only God knows the answer to that, but if so, Grace would be a "shoe in"!  (and I was sure the other place is full of cats)

[4dogs]

[monsterchelli]

Rich,
Thanks for sharing that.

(not sure about the cat part though, have one sleeping on me while i'm posting this)

GOD bless

[Doc Nock]

Peter,

I think that "cat" comment may have been for my benefit as Richard knows how allergic I am to cats...also dogs but not the same instant stop-breathing way!      :eek:  

Richard, your words got me to write to several people I'd put off "bridging a gap" "assuming" that there'd always be time.

Between Dad's passing, your pup and your good words, I decided to redouble efforts to be sure to mend any fences that sagged in this years' storms!

Being old, I probably missed a few...but you provided good motivation along with Grace to do so!

[Frenchymanny]

Dogs are family, hang in there in those hard times

Praying for your family

F-Manny

[olddogrib]

Yes, the cat comment was for Doc Noc, no offense meant towards any cat lovers.  We've also owned several Persians over the last 36 years of "marital bliss" (mostly to appease my wife), but as someone on here once said, that "they aspired to be half as great as their dogs thought they were", I always hoped I wasn't half as boring as the looks of total indifference I got from those cats!

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Rich,

Its always hard when a family member leaves us whether 2 legged or 4.

Prayers that you will heal and come out upright.

[GRAYBEARD]

Rich,
That was a great tribute to a fast friend. I wish you peace and a bottomless well of great memories. My life would be a lot tougher without my setters to ease the burdens.
The Good Lord is gonna have a hard time making me believe Heaven doesn't include some great dogs!
Jed