Charlie and Lady are our October 28, 2012 Pups of the Week

Last night when I was taking Pocket and Daddy Lackey outside for their final walk of the night, I looked up to the sky, to see two of the newest stars, Charlie and Lady.  I gave them a tip of the tail and they twinkled at me.  Then I led Daddy and Pocket home.  When we were inside I began to think that this is one of the many things us pups do, we lead our parents home.

We lead them home, and we are home.  When humans come to our house, unless we are out with one of our parents, we are home.  We are the constant.  Spouses may leave for a time, children grow up and leave, but not us, we are there, at the door, tails wagging, mouth smiling, the constant force of love that leads them home.

It is true of our cyber homes too.  We expect to see smiling faces and tails wagging on our pages.  Instead of a few dogs greeting us there are hundreds, but when we lose one smiling face, it hurts like we lost a member of the family.

This week we lost two treasured friends:  The first is Charlie from the ‘Burgh, a sweet, handsome English Spaniel, at the age of eight.  He loved his tennis balls and could play with them all day.  He also enjoyed playing in the yard, bothering birds and bunnies, and eating steak.  Charlie was a dog who, like me, loved to be in the lead during walks, but unlike some Moms, who want their pups to walk beside or behind them. Charlie’s Mom loved being taken on adventures by him, being dragged into mud after critters.  Like all wonderful dogs Charlie had his quirks, including enjoying taking a drink out of what he called his Magic Well but other might call a toilet bowl.

Charlie was taken from us at way too young an age and very quickly.  He went from having a bad stomach, to not eating, to bad blood numbers, to his kidneys shutting down, and then to the Bridge in the space of six days.  It happened so quickly it shocked everyone who knew him.  His Mom often referred to him her handsome Prince and that he was.  His Mom, who gave him his voice, is a wonderful woman, who made us understand the love she received from Charlie and how incredible he truly was.  Hearts were broken through the Burgh, and through the Cyber World, when our sweet friend left us.

Also this week Lady left us for the Bridge leaving us all especially heartbroken because it wasn’t too long ago that her brother Fritzchen preceded her.  Lady was a beautiful American Collie who lived in Germany near Cologne.  Lady lost an eight month battle with lymph cancer.  She fought as long as possible to stay with her beloved Mom but her body finally gave out.

When Lady first came to her home she found a house full of cats.  Her mother was a cat breeder and Lady took over as the mother pack leader.  Fritzchen joined her a few months later to keep her company.  The pack then grew to four when Nora and Rocky joined them.  Lady took care of them all.  She also helped her Mom through some serious health issues.  Her loss, to her family and friends, is earth shattering and we want her Mom to know that in America and across the world Lady has thousands of friends and we all love her.

And let’s try not to think of them being gone.  They are here as long as we can visit them through cyberspace.  They are in the stars at night, and snuggling in their Mom’s bed while they sleep, and they are alive in our hearts forever.

And they are still leading their parents, and leading us, to another home, a better home, a quieter home, where we will all live forever.