A Time to Say Goodbye
Lucy, our beloved Brittany departed this life yesterday, just days before her 17th birthday. Someday cherished memories will overtake the sadness we feel now.
Read on for the sweet pea and sweet dog connection.
The thumbnail photo, taken in 2015 is my favorite. I wrote the short piece below for the American Brittany Rescue (ABR) newsletter two years ago.
Lucy came to us through ABR in 2008 at age four and is the sweetest dog. She fills our hearts and our home with her unfailing devotion. Curiosity about her environment makes her a delight to watch.
Lucy loves to hang out in the garden with me and snacks on asparagus, green beans, snow peas and broccoli. The look on her face here says, "Oh, are you coming to work in the garden?" Lucy is my garden companion.
Lucy was one of 11 dogs in a backyard of concrete and a swimming pool in the Central Valley city of Bakersfield, California. She was at the bottom of the pecking order but thankfully her owner was convinced to work with ABR. Lucy is a small Brittany, only about 30 pounds and at the time of her adoption there were fifteen people vying for her. I connected with her powerfully on our first invited visit in her foster home. Thankfully, her foster family selected us. I was amazed by Lucy's energy and curiosity which likely allowed her to survive under such bleak circumstances for her first four years.
Lucy became the queen of our backyard, chasing bugs, birds and making little pine needle nests in the shade. A frequent mantra in our home is "everybody loves Lucy." Friends come to take her on a walk or stop by to see her "just because." We walk along the ocean cliffs near our home and I let Lucy choose who she wants to stop and greet. In these "therapy walks", people have said things like, "You don't know how much I needed to pet a dog today." Some have tears well up for unknown reasons. Lucy knows who needs some love.
A year ago she could run for a mile. Now at 15.5 she settles for a one to two mile daily walk. She is my best little friend, following me around the house and yard all day. She has a "Susie Sensor." She seems to know, even when sleeping, if I've left the room and most of the time she will follow. So thankful to ABR for gifting us this sweet Brittany.
The garden needed tending this morning after several days of attending to Lucy. I gathered sweet peas for a dining room bouquet. The fragrance of the blooms lifted my spirits but in my garden absence, the vines were setting seed, signaling the end of the season.
Gardens on occasion parallel life, and so it seemed this morning. I was not ready to let the sweet peas set seed for next fall’s planting—but I must. There are cucumbers to plant on the trellis and the sweet peas have had a long run in our cool spring.
A friend once wrote to me, “ We are never ready to give up our loved ones,” and this may apply to animal companions as well as our humans. And from these scattered thoughts while gathering a bouquet came a poem.
A Time to Say Goodbye
Sweet peas and sweet dogs.
The time for departure has come.
In my absence from the garden
The sweet peas set seed.
I was tending to Lucy
In her final days.
This morning
I gathered a bouquet of sweet peas
To cheer me.
The fragrance of the blossoms
Will pass as the ephemeral bouquet fades.
Enduring memories of my sweet Lucy
Will persist.
I am thankful God entrusts
His creatures to our care
And likewise, gives us flowers to enjoy.
Lucy on yard duty.
Lucy helping me with the weeding.
