... a dog named O'Malley...
Has it really been a year since we lost our handsome boy?
After we lost Malley, I used my computer to put together a little "Memories of O'Malley" book, and actually ended up giving copies to the girls and my dad & sister for Christmas last year.
(click on any photos to enlarge)
It's filled with photos and memories of a very special dog...
(I'll share a few of the pages of the book here as I tell you how we came to adopt our Mr. O'Malley)
Back in March of 2000, we finally felt ready to adopt another dog after having lost our beloved little Sooshi (photo in sidebar) a couple of months earlier. I originally said, "Never again," because the pain of losing Sooshi had been so great.
But as so often happens in these cases, the heart-wrenching grief eventually makes way for the sweet and happy memories... And although there will never be another Sooshi, our hearts healed enough to entertain the thoughts of adopting another dog...
Back in 2000 we had 3 cats and our girls were younger, so we needed to find a dog who loved kids and who loved
(or at least accepted) kitties!
We did an on-line search and found two dogs who sounded like they'd be ideal. One was a 7 year old lab/shepherd mix (Mr. O'Malley), and one was an 8 year old terrier mix (Ms. Gizmo)...
Decisions, decisions.... Do we get the big dog or the little one? Family meeting time... No consensus... Then the girls said, "Let's get both!"... And so it was...
We first visited Mr. O'Malley's shelter that Friday afternoon in March of 2000. The staff told us Malley was a great dog and that he'd been there for six months (poor baby - October through March - the absolute
coldest months here in New England)... I asked why they thought he hadn't been adopted yet and they said it was because of his age. They have a huge turnaround and lots of younger dogs, so at age 7, Malley just kept getting passed by...
We stopped in front of his cage and he came bounding up to the chain link gate,
soooo excited that someone was visiting his pen... He couldn't stop kissing the girls' hands through the gate. It was clearly love at first sight for two girls and one dog... Any possible doubts I'd had about how he would be with the girls
(or any other kids who came to the house) were immediately dispelled....
We had found our boy, and he had found his forever home...
I'm not certain of the circumstances that led to Mr. O'Malley ending up in a shelter, but I am so grateful that we found him. He was a one-in-a-million dog who filled our little cottage with joy with his ever present dog-smile and sweet disposition...
But a year ago, when Malley was 14 years old, we had to make the toughest decision a pet owner ever has to make... The dog who once lived to eat had now lost his appetite for food, and was having a hard time even keeping food down... A battery of tests told us that nothing could be done, so we made his final appointment for the following day... Someday we will meet again, of that I'm certain... Until then, we miss you every day, our sweet boy... and we love you always...
"I think God will have prepared everything for our perfect happiness. If it takes my dog being there (in Heaven), I believe he'll be there." ~Rev. Billy Graham
Let me just end by saying that there are so many benefits to adopting a shelter or pound dog (or cat)... I swear, they know and appreciate the homes they are given, and will reward you day in and day out for the remainder of their lives for rescuing them... I have a link on my sidebar to a few adoption sites in case any of you are currently looking for the next furry "love of your life"!!
...Recommended Reading...
I know many of you have seen the following book on my sidebar. My daughter, Amanda, bought this book a couple of months after Malley was put to sleep. She passed it along to me to read, and I have to tell you, between Anna Quindlen's insightful, beautiful writing and my daughter's handwritten notes and underlining of certain passages that she especially related to, it was quite an emotional read...
The first time I attempted to read it, I was at the hairdressers... Very bad decision... With tears streaming down my face, I decided that I might be better off reading it at home... After all, I didn't want my poor hairdresser to think a poor cut or color was the cause of the floodworks... A customer who is sitting in a chair crying is probably not the best type of advertising!
Anna Quindlen has absolutely captured the essence of what every dog owner must eventually face...
... but it is far from being a sad book.... And while the book will, at times, bring tears to even the most stoic of readers, it is really a celebration of Beau's life... I even found myself laughing aloud while reading of some of Beau's antics... And while Ms. Quindlen writes specifically about her Beau, he most certainly represents "every man's dog" as you will find yourself relating to the very words she uses and feelings she describes when talking about the special bond between a dog and its human... The title in itself -
Good Dog. Stay. - speaks volumes. Absolutely a must read book...
...Recommended Viewing...
And last, but most definitely not least...
Just as Anna Quindlen's book is a must read, if you have never seen it before, you must watch Jimmy Stewart reading a poem that he wrote about his dog (also named Beau). Jimmy Stewart has always been one of my favorite actors, and to listen and watch him reading this poem... well, there just aren't words... Johnny Carson couldn't even contain his emotions by the end of the poem, so you might want to run and get a tissue before watching...
(Click photo above to view video)
"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion." (Unknown)
Many thanks to all of you who actually took the time to read through this rambling tribute to a dog named O'Malley...
Comment Update: Thank you to everyone who has left such kind comments and who have shared the stories of your own furry family members... I have so enjoyed reading them... And Joanne, I will do a post on how to make a computerized "memory" book like this one. It's a very easy process!
Donna
