Shadow “adopted” Kaicee and me in December 2007. Kaicee went over the rainbow bridge in February, 2010. In October 2010, Shadow and I moved to my second call as a pastor. We moved from a rural setting to an urban one. Fortunately for both of us, next door to our house was a defunct golf course, which was a perfect place for us to walk and for him to explore. I walked the sidewalks and Shadow meandered through the weeds… always on the hunt. It was easy to see his early training as a hunting dog. He was particularly interested in birds, but he never tried to hurt any of them. When we were in the more remote areas of the golf course, I could let him loose and we played Frisbee. He was a retriever at heart! But I had to make sure no one else was around when I gave him a few minutes of freedom. He was fiercely protective of me and I didn’t want to take a chance that he might bite someone, although he was not aggressive. In fact, he was really a “scared-y cat,” particularly when it came to loud noises like fireworks and thunder.
One of his favorite activities… and one that annoyed me and others the most… was his constant barking at people who would walk on the sidewalk in front of our house. Fortunately, the way the house was designed, I could close doors to block him in the back of the house where he couldn’t see who was outside.
Occasionally strangers would ring my doorbell at odd hours, and he was my guardian… letting people know that he was there and was not in a mood to have anyone mess with me.
We lived near the Gulf of Mexico, so I thought he might enjoy the water at the beach. While he would walk in the water, he never seemed too excited about it. He was the 3rd Labrador Retriever that I had owned… and only the first one… Sheba… actually seemed to love the water. One of the public pools where we lived had an event called “doggy dip.” They would open the pool on the last day of the season to dog lovers, so they could swim with their dogs. I took Shadow once… but he was not interested. He liked seeing the other dogs and people, but the pool was not an attraction for him. Oh well… I tried.
Shadow was true to his name… he stuck to me like a shadow. He loved to cuddle up next to me on the couch and he slept at the foot of my bed. Since I lived alone, it was comforting to know that he was there when I came home, and because of his fierce temperament, there would be no surprise visitors in my house! He was a good house sitter and always super happy to see me when I got home. Since he was good with other dogs… and with people when I told him it was ok… I occasionally took him to work with me at the church, mainly when we were doing yard work, or when I knew I would be alone in the building, or when I was blessing the animals in honor of St Francis. But, for the most part, he stayed home.
In 2011, Christmas Day was on a Sunday. Shadow was… to my best guess… about 5 years old. When he adopted me, he was about a year old… perhaps a few months more… but definitely a young dog. And he had been with me for 4 years. When I left him early on Sunday morning, he was fine. When I came home a few hours later, he was laying down and breathing heavily. He didn’t get up… he didn’t greet me as usual… he just looked at me with sad eyes. I was shocked and could not imagine what had happened to him. Nothing was amiss in the house. I called an emergency vet hospital and they said I could bring him in. Getting a one-hundred pound dog who could barely move into the back of my Ford Escape was a Christmas miracle. Sheer will, adrenalin and determination helped me help him into the car. When I got to the hospital, one of the male attendants carried him in for me. They did a few tests and a CT scan and the news was not good. It looked like he had a huge tumor on his liver that had “fingers” that were wrapped around his other organs. Surgery was not an option. The tumor was inoperable. So, I had to make the heart-wrenching decision to give him eternal rest. It was Christmas… and I was saying good-bye to my best friend and protector. Christmas morning has never been the same for me since. I have worked most of them and I always remember Shadow. God sent him to me in December 2007 and took him home in December 2011. What was I going to do now? I had never in my entire life lived alone.
Next… Beau… the dog I will forever cherish and remember as my best ministry partner ever. Stay tuned!
Grace Notes 