r.i.p. Casey 1991-2006

r.i.p. Casey 1991-2006
Originally uploaded by countzachula.

As she rest in my arms as the day I brought her in to my life, covered in a blanket, I take her lifeless body to be cremated.

Her body still warm lay limp in my arms, the tears run down my cheeks as I remember going to my friend John's house to pick her out. The little silver haired beagle was a oddity in her litter though that is what attracted me to her.

She was so small then, this time she it took both arms to hold her. Lighter that the last time I saw her in Wisconsin as she had been having trouble eating.

I find myself "celebrating both ends of life" as my 7 week old nephew Zeb's life begins and my faithful companion's ends.

She had spent her last years living with my mom as I never had the means to take care of her, being on the road and living the life of a nomad without much cash. I did fall back into her life for a year when I moved back in with my mom for a time spanning a year during 2004 and 2005. I am thankful for that now.

I remember times when she was healthy and full of life. I would come home from school and she would be sleeping in the window waiting for me to come and take her rollerblading. She would pull me around the Louisville seminary, so much energy and speed that I couldn't keep up. She and I ventured around the grounds, exploring every inch of the 67 acres and then onto the park next door. Playing in the creek, trudging in the snow.

I have felt bad over the years for giving her such a good, few years of life and then neglecting her when was discovering myself. Now that I am beginning to settle into life I have the time for a dog but now no dog as she finds her way through the unknown.

Casey will be missed and her life was a flower that is still blossoming in my soul.