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Vigil of the Cemetery Dog |
| Posted September 27, 2006 by Stuart |
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(The following story was sent to us by Diane, in Seattle)
Excerpted from the book, "Animals as Teachers & Healers",
by Susan Chernak McElroy.
Going Gently chapter: Vigil of the Cemetery Dog
My seventeen-year-old son was killed in a diving accident. Only a parent who has lost a child can understand the personal devastation. The evening before the accident, I happened to drive by our local cemetery. Sitting next to the fence was a stray dog. She sat on a small knoll between two trees, seemingly waiting for someone. She looked like a bedraggled red fox. Little did I know that three days later I would be burying my son on the exact spot where the little dog waited.
On the day of my son’s funeral service, I saw the little dog again. She was standing a short distance away from where we gathered at the cemetery. The next morning, just before dawn, I went to visit my son’s grave for the first time. And sitting beside the mound of flowers at his graveside was the little red dog. As I approached, she rose and stepped back a few feet, as if in respect. When I sat on the ground by the grave, she came back and sat beside me, not touching me or asking for attention for herself. She seemed to just “be there” for me. Together we watched the sun rise, and I felt a slight touch of peace. I arose and she walked me back to my car, then returned to my son’s grave and lay down on it. The next morning was a repeat of the first. There she was, nestled beside the flowers. As she sat beside me, I ran my hand down along her back. She was slightly wet, as if from night dew. “You have been here all night?” I asked. She answered with a slight wag of her tail. “What are you? Some kind of a guardian angel?” She turned toward me and looked at me with eyes that seemed to reach my very soul. I began to cry and tell her of my terrible pain, and she sat and listened.
The next morning, there she was. Beginning to think of someone besides myself, I had brought a bowl of food and some water for her. Apparently someone else had noticed that little dog was doing twenty-four-hour duty, because there was a bowl of water by the grave. Knowing that my son wasn’t alone, that he had this small dog with him, began to give me comfort. I remembered that several years before, my son and a friend had rescued a small red dog that had been shot with an arrow. My son named her Callie, and she stayed on as a beloved pet until an untimely accident took her life.
After about a week, I took the cemetery dog home with me. Strangely enough, she was quiet and subdued. I couldn’t think of a name for her. Then one day, I said, “You know something? You look just like old Callie.” It was as if I’d hit a magic switch. “Callie” stood up and, tail wagging furiously, ran over to me and put her paw up on my knee. It was as if she had finally “come home”.
Who is this dog who showed me my son’s cemetery plot, and then did round-the-clock sentry duty when my son was laid to rest there? Who is this dog who was there to help me through the greatest trauma of my life, who now shares my home and helps fill the lonely moments? Is there such a thing as reincarnation, and are dogs reincarnated? I don’t know. I just know that she came into my life in a very mysterious way. My other dogs couldn’t give me the comfort that this little red dog did, and still does.
Callie has since become TDI (Therapy Dogs International)-certified. I take her on regular visits to our local nursing home where she has become the “adopted dog”. I am very proud of Callie. During the days following the Oklahoma bombing, TDI-certified dogs—including my Callie—were taken to the rescue center and to the church where victims’ families were waiting. Callie, with her gentle way, made many friends. In an especially touching moment, a medical worker sat on the floor with her arms around Callie, petting her and sharing her personal pain. It reminded me of myself as I sat with Callie at my son’s grave only last June. I’d never thought one way or another about angels or guardians but now I know there is such a thing. |
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Permanent Link | Category : Contemporary stories
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© 2005-2006 The Avataric Samrajya of Adidam Pty Ltd, as trustee for The Avataric Samrajya of Adidam.
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