Five Years and Still Tears
Am/Can Ch Laureate Search Party
January 25, 1989 - September 27, 2004
Fall is a beautiful season, but for us it is a bit melancholy to watch the leaves turn...it brings to mind our most treasured friends who are no longer with us. Even as I write this, I am brought to tears; the special ones in your life have a way of doing that. Hannah was from our first litter, and along with her sister Sparkle shared our lives for nearly 16 years.
Hannah had a doll face that always had a smile; her ears where always beautiful, and I don't think she had the ability to put them back. They were always alert and even if she looked skyward, they tipped perfectly. She finished both Championship titles with ease. Her Canadian championship was won in one weekend; her first shows as an adult. In the U.S. she finished quickly winning majors in tough New England circuits. We showed her only one weekend after that; we couldn't bring ourselves to have anyone judge her, because to us, she was perfect.
After Hannah and then two weeks later, her sister Sparkle's passing, Pete and I dealt with our grief by planting trees. We dug holes and planted, dug and planted until we couldn't dig another hole. When we were done we went around to look at all the trees and shrubs and we counted how many we had planted. Little did we realize that we had planted a tree for every year they were alive. One of the varieties we planted was the amur maple in memory of a wonderful photo shoot we had of the girls when they were 13 years old. This is just one of the beautiful shots. To view a few more you can see her page here.
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7 comments:
Absolutely wonderful Sheltie, in great conditions... I just lost one of my oldies (Wilma) that was born on my hands, it was lovely to read your kind words about your Hannah as I feel the same about my Wilma. I'm sure Hannah had a wonderful life at your side and that now she is running and jumping with her other Laureate friends that also passed away.
What a beautiful tribute to a beautiful girl! So hard to believe it's been 5 years. I don't think special memories fade with time at all; if anything, they become sharper. I can see Toon's dear sweet face so clearly, and hear your love for her in your voice when you talked to her, and about her. She is missed.
Wow, what a wonderful tribute. It brought me to tears, especially since I'm still raw with grief over losing BISS Ch. Westar's Maxima (Ryder) just the day before I left for this year's national. He'd been there the year before, in all his elderly, blind, deaf, grey muzzled glory, bringing me to tears watching him move out and show despite all that like the champion he was.
I so appreciate your love for these wonderful animals... They are almost little people really, often so much kinder, loving and patient with you than your human friends. God certainly blessed me when I first saw a sheltie at age 17 and decided THAT was the dog I needed to have.
Thanks for your posting. Lovely!
Deborah
I still cry holing a jar of Blue's ashes. I think the love is never forgotten and the hurt is never really healed.
Blue is not the only one...
Beautiful post. Hannah had such a kind face and expression and she was so lucky to have so much love in her life. They never stay long enough do they, I can't even think about the future when mine will both be gone.
~Nat
Thank you. This is a lovely post- which of course brought tears to my eyes too.
Cadie
Wonderful tribute Kim They fill your heart and give their heart full of love to you. Each is unique and have a special place in your life. I can't imagine not having a sheltie in my home we have had shelties for 39 years.
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