The only friends the little girl had were her Chihuahua dog and her cat. The three of them played together for hours in the shed behind the old garage. Using cardboard boxes and boards and leftover material, she had transformed the little room into a home.
Piecing together odds and ends of old clothes, she fashioned baby clothes for her pets. The dog and the cat allowed her to try clothes on them as often as she wished. They knew they were loved.
Living out in the country miles from the nearest neighbor was never lonely with the dog and cat running around the acreage with her. When she stepped on a snake the dog would growl and bark and the cat would hiss and meow and they all ran on to the next adventure.
One day a stranger knocked on the door of the house. When she opened the door, the stranger with sad eyes told her how sorry he was, that the dog had run out into the path of his car on the highway. The dog he put in her arms was dead.
The little girl found the shovel in the messy garage, did her best to dig a hole by the shed, wrapped her precious friend in the clothes she had worked hard to sew by hand, and laid her dog in the hole. She knelt down and scooped the dirt over him by hand, she didn't want to take a chance that the shovel would hit her dog.
That was the first and last funeral she ever attended. To this day she has not been at a funeral. When her grandparents died she was not taken to the funeral. Children were not included at those occasions back then. The other grandparents lived too far away so when they passed away she was told about it later.
When a good friend passed away she had already moved to another state.
Now that the girl is within a few years of 70, she wonders if the first funeral she attends will be her own.
12 comments:
Is this about you? I can't imagine you being a few years from 70, but if it is, I also can't imagine you've never attended a funeral.
wow. what a moving tale...my first best friend was a pups...losing a pups is so painful...and how powerful that was in her life...that she never attended another funeral..hopefully hers is still a ways off...
reminds of the old days as a child where we'd have a good number of dogs. Mainly when my dog had puppies and they were too young to leave just yet.
How sad. I am guessing that this was you, CiCi. My heart goes out to you, but also I'm glad for you that you have not had to attend as many funerals as I have.
Hi CiCi, very moving, I have been to far too many. This reminded me of losing my first dog, very hard....if the girl is within a few years of 70 is you, your a wonderful soal. sorry I have been gone for so long but I am back. hugs. hope you are well.
I guess, in some ways, it's a good thing to go a long time without attending a funeral. But at the same time, funerals can be celebrations of life that are helpful to the living.
Very touching story. Our pets are often closer to us than human family members.
Woah! I'm thinking this is about you. Me, I've been to so many funerals, I cannot count. Well, maybe I could, but I don't want to. Many were people in their 30's, a few even younger, many much older. Though it always hurts deeply and painfully, you get to the point where you kind of make peace with it, realize it's a part of life, know what to say, how to help the grieving, how to be of use. Not many people have that ability. I don't wish my story on anybody, but that's what I can relate from my own experiences...
I've been to my share of funerals. Until recently, I dreaded them. I'm never sure what to say to the family of the deceased. I've since learned that nothing profound has to be said. Sometimes a hug and "I'm sorry" is enough.
Such a simple yet powerful story. I really don't know what to say except---WOW!
I attended a funeral as a child and it haunted me for years and years and years. Your parents were probably wise in that.
My parents kept us from funerals also when we were children. I'd since been to several but the very first burial I'd witnessed was my dad's. That was hard. A fine story.. sad.. and yet not so sad if you've not had many funerals occur in your lifetime.
I've never experienced anything so powerfully that I've not been able to repeat that experience. That really tells of the hurt of the child. Sad, sad.
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