In
Memory of My Best Friend
July
16, 1993 – Oct. 20, 2006
From the beginning I knew
he was going to be special. I was going though a hard time in my life and really
needed someone to love. His mom was one of the first of two that I got from our
local shelter when I decided to start Puppies Under Protection. The other mom
came with her litter but Bailey’s mom “Emily” had not yet delivered. On
the morning of July 16th I knew we were going to have our first at
home birthed babies. Emily wanted no part of it!! I sat with her on the back
porch floor and tried to comfort her (I remember having my daughters, it’s
probably a good thing that dogs can’t swear!). Bailey was born in my lap at
10:00am. I will never forget, he was the only black & white puppy all the
rest were liver & white. Emily settled down and cared for all the puppies
except him. I guess he was my gift from her, and yes, he was truly a gift.
He was my first bottle baby and had been in our bed every night till he
got to old to jump down without possible hurting himself. He did have stairs to
get on the bed but always chose to jump off rather than climb down safely.
Bailey was my
constant companion till about 10 yrs. old. when being in the car for too long
became hard on him. He went to work everyday and kept me on a much better
schedule than I could do myself. He learned to smile at a very early age and
would do it when asked. That always made us smile and he knew it. He told me
when to get up, when to go to bed, when it was time to eat, go out, get a cookie
or just come and lay with him. Towards the end he even made me get up in the
middle of the night for a potty break but not for himself. We have another
elderly dog named Jamie and he made sure that when she went to the door I would
be shortly behind her.
Bailey was
always considered the Alpha dog without ever having to prove it. All the other
dogs would just kiss him and roll on the ground in front of him. He ignored them
most of the time because he never really considered himself a dog and neither
did we.
Well my life
as I knew it for 13+ years is over. My little man was born in my lap, imbedded
into my heart and died quietly in my lap. We were so lucky to have had an animal
as wonderful as he. If you have never had that kind of love you are missing a
big part of what God has to offer.
