FOR KODI AND WHITNEY

October 23, 2007

 The fall of 2007 has held great beauty and deep loss for Elizabeth and me. We have had to send our two champion retrievers to a better place. Kodiak and Whitney will no longer play in our meadows and joyously swim in our river, but their spirit will never leave, it is woven in the fabric of our memories and our home.

When I was in second grade, I was taught that God loved everyone so much that he needed a little help to look after all of us so he created guardian angels. I believed that then but my belief has changed a bit during my life’s journey.  Now I know that angels share this task with dogs who I believe were created to be a living presence of God’s love for those special people who take the time to embrace and share their life with them.  Why is there such a relationship between dogs and we humans—a bond that is not as easily formed with other animal?  Because God wanted it that way.  Our dogs are our guardian angels—living reminders of how deeply God loves us. Just consider it—a dog’s love is unconditional, never changing, all forgiving and ever present. We are grouchy—they wag their tails regardless; we long for vacations and material things, they only want a ball to be thrown. We go to fancy restaurants and they think a special cookie is the height of gourmet. We are sick and they curl up at the end of the bed to be near us. We cry and they rest their heads on our laps. Is there anything more wonderful, anything that speaks of the playfulness of God or the wonder of creation than a dog running freely on a beach or in a field in autumn? People often say that they cannot hear God speak to them, maybe they never had a dog. People often say they have never seen a sign of God; maybe they have never looked deeply into the eyes of a dog and see them smile. A dog wags his tale from his heart and that is why it is always, always true. The silence of dogs as they loving gaze at us speaks so loudly of all that is right in our world and all that is good and loving in each one of us. 

G.K. Chesterton wrote that life is like the back side of a tapestry—you can only figure out all the crisscrossing lines when, in death, God turns it around for us to see. I know that God has a tapestry for all his dogs and we are but a single thread in it. For Kodiak and Whitney, God has turned it around for them and they now see the color of our threads in their lives. God is eternal and so are Kodi and Whitney. They live not just in our memories—they live! We will encounter them again sooner than we think. When Elizabeth and I look outside and see the bristling of autumn leaves by the river, or see a startled pheasant explode from its cover or a flock of geese in our meadow suddenly honk and fly off or see unrecognized dog prints in the sands of an Oregon shoreline—we will silently look at each other and smile for we will know know, it just Kodi and Whitney doing what they have always loved to do.

 We miss you both so very much but we still have Yukon who fills are days and will  help heal our pain of loss. He is our number one trainer for Tri-tronics and the joy of an autumn hunt. Life is often sad but it is always good with dogs.

 David and Elizabeth