Once again, I am inspired by something on Facebook, but feel the need to
expand on it a bit, so turning to this personal blog to express what
wants to come, from my heart and my soul.
There's a thing on FB, about posting ten days of your dog, just any pictures you want to share. I know we are nearing the end of Danny's time in this incarnation, that his physical presence will leave me soon, and so I wanted to devote more than just a snap on FB to this.
He may not actually be here in ten days. Or he may be here in ten months.
Or gone, anywhere in between. But we would be very blessed to have ten months at this stage.
Danny will be fourteen in mid august. That's very advanced old age for a Rhodesian.
Here he is a couple days ago, he looks kind of miserable, but mostly he's just tired now.Still happy, but much less energetic. Then again, he hates the heat.
But this isn't my pic of him for today, I posted this on FB and IG
already. Today's pic is below, well ok, there might be a couple, from
the first week I brought him home. And I just want to tell the first
story, of how Danny came to be, how he and I came to be....for my first
installment of Ten Days in the Life of Dan.
So, I had a Ridgeback before Danny, who I loved and adored, and can't talk about to this day - he died, without warning, a few hours after his nightly meal and walk, from a catastrophic internal hemorrhage caused by a splenic cancer. He died on August 30, 2006, in the back of my van, just as I pulled into the emergency clinic parking lot.
Leaving Lila and I bereft beyond words.
For seven weeks I just cried and cried.
And then out of the blue, one afternoon I called Luke's breeder. I just needed to talk about the breed, about cancer, about why I know not to blame myself but did anyway - and I had a lovely chat with this lovely woman, whom I did and do admire so much, we were on the phone I recall, close to an hour. And I was just about to say goodbye, when she mentioned - tactfully - that although it night be too soon for me, they did have a "surprise"litter on the ground, and a few pups in need of homes. Apparently someone had purchased a bitch from her, signed a no-breeding contract but let the bitch get pregnant anyway. So now, the puppies. I was in no way "ready" and I don't even know what prompted me to say, sure I will come take a look. The fact the puppies were a 9 hour drive away didn't make it easy for me, but I have always felt that call (and my response) was one of those mysteries - a "meant to be" scenario. So, a week later, off I went. With Lila, a friend who was staying with me, and some cash that had unexpectedly arrived ( more serendipity, without that windfall I couldn't have bought a puppy anyway).
And we arrived, and there he was. When the breeder opened the door and let the boys in, all three of them, the small being who would be Daniel, ran right over to me and sat on my foot, trembling (there was a lot going on in that room!) and looking up at me with these huge, liquid eyes (you'll see in a minute).
My friend turned to one of the breeders and said "I don't think we will need to look at any other puppies".
And that's how it was - instant. Just like that.
So Lila and I went back to our hotel, drank some red wine(well, I did, she was a tee totaller) and went to sleep. I awoke in the night feeling restless, and the song "Daniel" by Elton john popped into my head. I knew it was my puppy's name, he embodied Daniel-ness. (which in Hebrew means either Judge of God or Man of God, depending on who you read). And for me personally, has always reminded me of my own brother, who died in 2004, but I feel watches over me and has often communicated via music.
So that's how Danny came to be my Anam Cara - an impulsive phone call, an unexpected financial windfall, and an immediate, soul deep recognition.
This is Danny in my van shortly after we got home...in his little seatbelt harness...and some of his adorable wide eyed poses through the first few weeks of life in Rupert.
Just a few of my many favorites from those golden days, when he was healing my heart, making me laugh even while I still cried for Luke. He was (and is) a beacon of such pure happiness and love, my life has never been the same since the day I brought him home.
There's a thing on FB, about posting ten days of your dog, just any pictures you want to share. I know we are nearing the end of Danny's time in this incarnation, that his physical presence will leave me soon, and so I wanted to devote more than just a snap on FB to this.
He may not actually be here in ten days. Or he may be here in ten months.
Or gone, anywhere in between. But we would be very blessed to have ten months at this stage.
Danny will be fourteen in mid august. That's very advanced old age for a Rhodesian.
Here he is a couple days ago, he looks kind of miserable, but mostly he's just tired now.Still happy, but much less energetic. Then again, he hates the heat.
So, I had a Ridgeback before Danny, who I loved and adored, and can't talk about to this day - he died, without warning, a few hours after his nightly meal and walk, from a catastrophic internal hemorrhage caused by a splenic cancer. He died on August 30, 2006, in the back of my van, just as I pulled into the emergency clinic parking lot.
Leaving Lila and I bereft beyond words.
For seven weeks I just cried and cried.
And then out of the blue, one afternoon I called Luke's breeder. I just needed to talk about the breed, about cancer, about why I know not to blame myself but did anyway - and I had a lovely chat with this lovely woman, whom I did and do admire so much, we were on the phone I recall, close to an hour. And I was just about to say goodbye, when she mentioned - tactfully - that although it night be too soon for me, they did have a "surprise"litter on the ground, and a few pups in need of homes. Apparently someone had purchased a bitch from her, signed a no-breeding contract but let the bitch get pregnant anyway. So now, the puppies. I was in no way "ready" and I don't even know what prompted me to say, sure I will come take a look. The fact the puppies were a 9 hour drive away didn't make it easy for me, but I have always felt that call (and my response) was one of those mysteries - a "meant to be" scenario. So, a week later, off I went. With Lila, a friend who was staying with me, and some cash that had unexpectedly arrived ( more serendipity, without that windfall I couldn't have bought a puppy anyway).
And we arrived, and there he was. When the breeder opened the door and let the boys in, all three of them, the small being who would be Daniel, ran right over to me and sat on my foot, trembling (there was a lot going on in that room!) and looking up at me with these huge, liquid eyes (you'll see in a minute).
My friend turned to one of the breeders and said "I don't think we will need to look at any other puppies".
And that's how it was - instant. Just like that.
So Lila and I went back to our hotel, drank some red wine(well, I did, she was a tee totaller) and went to sleep. I awoke in the night feeling restless, and the song "Daniel" by Elton john popped into my head. I knew it was my puppy's name, he embodied Daniel-ness. (which in Hebrew means either Judge of God or Man of God, depending on who you read). And for me personally, has always reminded me of my own brother, who died in 2004, but I feel watches over me and has often communicated via music.
So that's how Danny came to be my Anam Cara - an impulsive phone call, an unexpected financial windfall, and an immediate, soul deep recognition.
This is Danny in my van shortly after we got home...in his little seatbelt harness...and some of his adorable wide eyed poses through the first few weeks of life in Rupert.
Just a few of my many favorites from those golden days, when he was healing my heart, making me laugh even while I still cried for Luke. He was (and is) a beacon of such pure happiness and love, my life has never been the same since the day I brought him home.
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