I lay there, our last night together, in the bed we'd shared countless nights cuddled together on, hearing a heart beat entirely too fast, mine or hers? Definitely hers, her heart beat too fast, her breathing too shallow. Stroking my hand through her hair, along her body, I could feel every bone, each vertebrae, she hadn't eaten in days, too sick to keep anything down. Burying my face in the mane of her neck I cried, thinking of the life we'd shared to now.
Recalling running down the trail to the beach; hopping over fallen trees, avoiding banana slugs. Callie would run into the sound, tail swishing, snaking from side to side. She'd look back with a glint in her eyes, trot out and find the biggest stick possible. It always amazed me to see the logs she would come prancing over with.
Out in the woods, up a trail to some peak, and around the bend and rolling next to a mountain bike. There was no adventure Callie would pass up. As a puppy she used to adamantly request to join in on car rides, despite the fact that they made her violently ill. Out on trail rides with horses, or just crossing a small field, she would happily trot alongside or just behind them.
She was born on the fourth of July, 2000, the only dog I've ever met who truly didn't mind fireworks. I met her in October of 2000, despite the fact that she was the one puppy who ran over joyously as I pulled up, I did not take her home until almost December, two weeks prior to flying across the country, from NY to WA. She was laid to rest October 24, 2008. During the Winter of Callie's fifth year she was diagnosed with kidney failure, we were given six months, despite the odds her will to live and carry on pulled her through the next three years, showing only marked decline in the last couple of months.
Callie has been the best friend, confidant, and guardian a young woman could ever hope to have. She traveled across the country with me on my first adventure away from home, 3,000 miles away on an airplane, riding first class do to her status as a Search and Rescue dog. She accompanied me on countless adventures to the beach, to the creeks, on trails, on hikes, bikes, and trails. Callie stood guard as I went through many a social adventure and intervened on three separate counts when my personal safety was jeopardized.
Callie escorted me from the realm of teenager, hopeless romantic, and naïve high school graduate through my real testing grounds of growing up into a mature, more realistic, grown adult woman. Callie was the guardian I pray my own child(ren) will have to escort them through the fires of their own training ground as they learn who and what they are and who accompanies them through the passing of their final years of adolescence.
Callie was obedient, intelligent, sympathetic, regal, aware of her self physically and others mentally, and above all, she was always there. She was the perfect companion at all times. Callie was frequently an ambassador, not just for other dogs, but for other humans as well. To those who had lost trust in the human race or those who had terrible past experiences, she always seemed to know what was needed to bring them back to a whole place. Callie's impeccable manners gained her entrance to many places most dogs are not allowed and gave her the ability to interact with a great number of people whose lives are richer for having also been able to know her.
The loss of Callie is unbearable at times. I was blessed to have been loved by her, to have had her in my life for the brief time she was. It was an honor to have been her person. I know she is here still in spirit, I trust she is running through fields after tennis balls, finding enormous tree branches and "rarfing" in the snow she so loved to play in on the other side of the rainbow bridge.
Until we meet again my beloved friend, I miss you dearly, wish you could accompany me in physical form on the next chapters of my life, and look forward to your brief visits and continued guidance in time of need. I love you now and always.
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