We lost Abby today.
Having just turned 13, she lived a good long life for a collie and I’m sure that since God has lions and lambs and horses in heaven, His landscape up there is loaded with dogs as well.
Abby’s beauty rivaled that of Lassie and, with a rough like that of a male, when the wind blew her hair you’d swear that she was even more breath-taking. The stronger the wind, the more her splendor. Magnificent.
And yet her spirit was even more lovely.
Some people sport that bumper stick “I believe in dog.”
Well, if dog is God spelled backwards all the more power to them. For like the very best of dogs, Abby possessed all the characteristics God wants of us but we so often fail in delivering
Uncompromising love tops the list.
Add to that loyal, affectionate, forgiving, trustworthy, devoted, dependable, dedicated. Her Auntie Lyn called her “a calming presence.” Whatever is good in a dog, Abby had it in spades and every other suit in the deck.
The one attribute I wish she’d left in the crib was stubbornness. But with all her delightful traits, hey…
Abby lavished love not only on us mortals but on her other four-legged companions, always stepping in the middle of a brewing conflict, like a referee but better.
When she reached maturity she graced our property as our extraordinary “lawn ornament.” She’d go outdoors, lay down and pose—like the male lions you see in the movies. So majestic and seeming to know it.
She’d lay there, her head high if there was a breeze, and watch her younger brother and sister play and woof-woof at them and at passers-by with a cheery voice that became a low-decibel urging.
So, now with bittersweet memories we look forward being reunited.
