Born Free

        Our dog lived much of her life on a chain, that is, the hours she was outdoors.  A long one, but none the less, a chain. She was content, but occasionally she would break away and go for a run. As we saw her tear away through the woods or down the street we thought of the song "Born Free." And we would say when she safely returned, "Shach had a 'born free.'"
        Very sadly, our dear Meshach, known as the girl dog with a boy name, left us two days ago. She was almost 16 and was sick with kidney disease. Many times she would show symptoms and be sick, but then surprise us and rally again. But this past week it was different. She did not rally. We knew the day was coming when we would need to let her go, and it became obvious the day had come.
        Shach and her master had their last walk together on the way into the vet, where they gave us a room to wait. She always has a fit at the vet but this time she was quiet and subdued. She knew. She stayed close to us, licking her master's hand slowly and looking deeply into my tear filled eyes. They brought a blanket and we gently laid her between our feet as we bent down to stroke her while talking softly to her. And so she went to sleep. 
        We looked at her face, her eyes still open, but now lifeless. A single tear was on her cheek. I kept singing the song in my mind, "Born Free, as free as the wind blow, as free as the grass grows, born free to follow your heart" (the best I can remember the words). And so we picture our dear Meshach, no longer in pain, and running blissfully free. But oh how we miss her. 
        When Little One arrives at our house the first thing she says is "Shach" with great emphasis. What will she think when she comes here for Thanksgiving? But even more sad is the fact that her other grandparents said goodbye to their dog, Daisy, just a week before our dog left us. Little One loved Daisy dearly. I wonder what will go through her mind as she misses both of her beloved "doggies."


Photo by Youngest, CLC.