God lives in the Post Office

Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her.. I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words:


Dear God,

Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.

I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and to swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her. You will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.

Love, Meredith
_________________________________

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, 'To Meredith , ' in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, 'When a Pet Dies..' Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:

_____________________________________

Dear Meredith,


Abbey arrived safely in heaven.

Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away.

Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog.

Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this little book foryou to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.

Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you.

I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much.

By the way, I'm easy to find, I am wherever there is love.
Love,
God

Kirby the Wonder Dog

In the spring of 2005 Jan was remodeling her building in Corning,California. The roof had just been re-done, all 5,000 square feet of it. Dillon and Ben Hammond were delivering Jan's things from storage on the east coast and had climbed up to the roof to admire the work. The roof was flat and there were sides that surrounded the roof about 3 feet high and a foot wide, made of bricks and tarred on the top. The building is one of the tallest in Corning, at least 30 feet to the roof.Alvero, one of the workmen had let Kirby climb up to the roof and Jan was in the process of asking him to grab Kirby and get him downstairs ,when Kirby decided to jump up on the side of the wall.He turned to face the group as if to say "I'm sorry" and he slowly lost his footing and slipped over the side out of sight. Of course Janice began to scream, Dillon ,Dean and Ben ran down to the street . Kirby could not be found anywhere. Not dead in the street, not on the sidewalk, not in the alley.Gone. Jan was inconsolable, when Alvero runs down to the street with Kirby in his arms .It seems that Kirby fell about 15 feet to the roof /awning over the street, and rolled off that about 15 feet to the street.He was running up the stairs to the roof to find out where everyone was, when Alvero captured him.
Dillon immediately grabbed the dog and guiding Jan ,jumped into Deans' nearby truck .His instructions were clear. To call the vet on the cell, that we'd be there in 15 minutes. Call Dean and tell him we'd commandeered his truck. Dillon drove like a paramedic, prompting Jan to check the dog for a board-like abdomen, for bleeding, check his pupils for neurological signs..keep him awake, observe for bleeding in his mouth.....we got there and they kept 'till 5PM. We worried and fussed and at the end of the day....Kirby , got his name "the Wonder-dog" as he pranced out of the vet, a slight scrape on his chin and otherwise fit as a fiddle!

Dog Quotes

'To err is human to forgive canine'
-Unknown

'Some days you're the dog
Some days you're he hydrant.'
-Unknown

Life is like a dog sled team. If you ain't the lead dog the scenery never changes.
-Lewis Crizzard

'The Care and Training of a Dog'

A really companionable and indispensable dog is an accident of nature. You can't get it by breeding for it, and you can't get it with money. It just happens along.
-EB White

The Bench-Legged Fyce

Speakin' of dorgs, my bench-legged fyce
Hed most o' the virtues, an' nary a vice.
Some folks called him Sooner, a name that arose
From his predisposition to chronic repose;
But, rouse his ambition, he couldn't be beat -
Yer bet yer he got thar on all his four feet!

Mos' dorgs hez some forte - like huntin' an' such,
But the sports o' the field didn't bother him much;
Wuz just a plain dorg, an' contented to be
On peaceable terms with the neighbors an' me;
Used to fiddle an' squirm, and grunt "Oh, how nice!"
When I tickled the back of that bench-legged fyce!

He wuz long in the bar'l, like a fyce oughter be;
His color wuz yaller as ever you see;
His tail, curlin' upward, wuz long, loose, an' slim -
When he didn't wag it, why, the tail it wagged him!
His legs wuz so crooked, my bench-legged pup
Wuz as tall settin' down as he wuz standin' up!

He'd lie by the stove of a night an' regret
The various vittles an' things he had et;
When a stranger, most likely a tramp, come along,
He'd lift up his voice in significant song -
You wondered, by gum! how there ever wuz space
In that bosom o' his'n to hold so much bass!

Of daytimes he'd sneak to the road an' lie down,
An' tackle the country dorgs comin' to town;
By common consent he wuz boss in St. Joe,
For what he took hold of he never let go!
An' a dude that come courtin' our girl left a slice
Of his white flannel suit with our bench-legged fyce!

He wuz good to us kids - when we pulled at his fur
Or twisted his tail he would never demur;
He seemed to enjoy all our play an' our chaff,
For his tongue 'u'd hang out an' he'd laff an' he'd laff;
An' once, when the Hobart boy fell through the ice,
He wuz drug clean ashore by that bench-legged fyce!

We all hev our choice, an' you, like the rest,
Allow that the dorg which you've got is the best;
I wouldn't give much for the boy 'at grows up
With no friendship subsistin' 'tween him an' a pup!
When a fellow gits old - I tell you it's nice
To think of his youth and his bench-legged fyce!

To think of the springtime 'way back in St. Joe -
Of the peach-trees abloom an' the daisies ablow;
To think of the play in the medder an' grove,
When little legs wrassled an' little han's strove;
To think of the loyalty, valor, an' truth
Of the friendships that hallow the season of youth!

Eugene Field

A Dog's Prayer

Treat me kindly, my beloved master, for no heart in all the world is
more grateful for kindness than the loving heart of me.

Do not break my spirit with a stick, for though I should lick your
hand between blows, your patience and understanding teach me the
things you would have me do.

Speak to me often, for your voice is the world's sweetest music, as
you must know by the fierce wagging of my tail when your footstep
falls upon my waiting ear.

When it is cold and wet, please take me inside, for I am now a
domesticated animal, no longer used to the bitter elements. And I ask
no greater glory than the privilege of sitting at your feet beside the
hearth.

Though,had you no home, I would rather follow you through ice and snow
than rest upon the softest pillow in the warmest home in all the land,
for you are my god and I am your devoted worshiper.


Keep my pan filled with fresh water, for although I should not
reproach you were it dry, I cannot tell you when I suffer thirst. Feed
me clean food, that I may stay well, to romp and play and do your
bidding, to walk by your side, and stand ready, willing and able to
protect you with my life should your life be in danger.

And, beloved master, should the great Master see fit to deprive me of
my health or sight,do not turn me away from you. Rather, hold me
gently in your arms as a skilled hand grants me the merciful boon of
eternal rest--and I will leave you knowing with the last breath I
draw, my fate was ever safest in your hands.

Beth Norman Harris

Kirby's doin alright if he's got his tennis ball ready!