Remember The Good Times.......

[Banjoman]

.....often written by Nancy ( aka "Mam") when posting a reply when another GT member has to tell us of the loss of their houndie. Some find it hard to keep this thought to the forefront of their mind when grieving for a beloved pet but it was brought home to me last week so I thought I would offer this story to you all. It is not about a greyhound but about a whippet.

 

Nearly thirty years ago we got our first whippet, Rolo, who, when he grew up, joined my husband and son on hikes with our local Scout troop. Being an unneutered dog he liked to 'mark' everywhere he went, especially new places. The scouts used to laugh at this and it became a tradition that they would count the number of times that Rolo would lift his leg on the outward part of the hike then, after the refreshment break halfway through the day they would count him all the way back home. I think his record was 27 times!

 

Last week my youngest Grandson went with his Dad, an Assistant Beaver leader and the Beaver group, to Pets At Home in preparation for doing the Animal Care badge. As he loves my dogs it was agreed that he could work towards the badge by helping to look after them. Now, one of the adult assistants for the outing used to be the Scout leader many years ago and he told all the little lads the story about Dexter's Grandad taking Rolo on the hikes and all about him cocking his leg and doing a wee so many times and how the boys would keep count!

 

So, 25 years on, I know that not just me but other people still 'remember the good times' of life with Rolo and we can smile at the shared memory. I want to say to all who find it difficult to cope with the loss of their animal friends "You were lucky to love and be loved and through that love you will always have a connection with your houndie, always have wonderful and happy memories to call upon even, as I discovered last week, 25 years after they actually happened".

 

So, may you all remember the good times and smile, whether your memories are recent or pulled from the mists of time.

Edited April 3, 2018 by Banjoman

[BatterseaBrindl]

 

Thanks for sharing that little story, Carol (OfRealEngland)

Made me leak a little bit.....

 

I have just redone my siggie today... 6 1/2 weeks after our Nixon went to the Bridge.

Nixon was a master wee-er too

I do miss that boy something fierce......

[Batmom]

[macoduck]

What a hap-pee story, Carol.

[FiveRoooooers]

Thank you Miss Carol.

[ramonaghan]

Well said.

[XTRAWLD]

It's been only 2 and a bit years for me, and only now am I able to smile and laugh at some memories. I think it takes time to try to recall the fun and happy stories, but I think it's harder still to try to suppress them.

 

Thank you for the story.

[DocsDoctor]

Very true. My neighbour was laughing with me only the other day about the time my old dog Doc and I went next door for a drink, and how fascinated he was by the tiny fluffy toy on a keyring she kept hanging on her wall. We had to take it down and hide it away to stop him gazing at it, hoping I think that it was going to start to move.

[JohnF]

Thanks for reminding us of that. The very purpose of grieving and crying is to speed back those happy memories to us and push the bad ones to the bottom of the list.

[heartdogs]

What a wonderful story & reminder of the joy our dogs bring.

[EllenEveBaz]

 

I was smiling the other day at a memory of my big grey boy, Baz, who consistently peed 11-13 times on every mile-long walk. He was very tall even for a greyhound, and he always hiked his leg up as high as he could on anything that was the least bit vertical. This is the time of year when the wild onions sprout in people's otherwise perfect laws, and there would be this giant dog lifting his leg to mark the 6-inch-high wild onions.

[Patsy]

Thank you for this.

[sabrina]

they leave us but the love stays.