Ode to a Blackberry

This morning, I lost a dear friend

Goodbye Francis. Yes, my blackberry had a name.  I am strange that way.  I name inanimate objects.  I am positive there is page with my name on it in the DSM IV.  

Francis was mortally wounded in an unprovoked attack.  The injuries, incompatible with life,  left her lingering in a semi conscious state, barely clinging to this world.  She is hanging on, refusing to let go.  Occasionally she will emit a pathetic chirp, the occasional ring.  I will gently cradle her broken body in my hand, press her to my ear & share my grief with friends.  At times it is too much for her, and she drops into a comatose state. 

It is with great sadness I contacted my wireless carrier and ordered a replacement.  Thankfully our insurance plan covers her replacement.  But nothing will replace her in my heart. 

Who was responsible for this massacre?  

This morning Bea snatched poor defenseless Francis from the table and chewed the very life out of her in the blink of an eye.   I was too late to save her when I heard the ominous crack.  It is my fault, I should not have left Francis in a vulnerable position.   I cannot blame the puppy and must let Francis move onto her next life with forgiveness in my heart.  

In honor of her passing I will share with you some of the terrible pictures I snapped over the last several years.  It is my way of letting her go...and reliving the memories she captured for me.  Thankfully she lived long enough this morning for me to mail these to myself.  Sadly, my address book did not make it and will need to be recreated...

My dear sweet Katie who passed in Nov 2008, with Bonnie as a puppy and Ranger.

I miss this dog every day of my life.  

Charlie, the cat who thought he was a dog, who passed just last year.  

I miss this cat every day of my life.

My 19 y/o son, who moved out and is living on his own.  I do not miss him, the laundry, dirty towels, smelly shoes or loud music blaring from his room.   

My 17 y/o son, Zach.  AKA "Stink Eye". 

Our grand daughter Alyssa a few minutes after she was born. 

The next shot is from when Bonnie was still a fat puppy and Beth liked her.  Three dogs on a bed.  Notice the dog crates in the background?  Yes, my dogs sleep in the same room with us.  Pathetic eh?

Four dogs on a bed, shot a year later.  Much older Bonnie with Brynn added to the mix. 

Brynn, two days after I adopted her and  had to take her to the vet to be treated for Parvo.  This was snapped the morning she was admitted into the vet hospital, it shows how very sick she was.  A little puppy sound asleep in a blanket on the table in the exam room.  She didn't wake up for the vet to examine her.  

Looking at this breaks my heart to this day.

Bea, a much happier puppy the day I brought her home from Idaho.  She is in her crate in the passenger seat of my car.  Still so tiny and unsure.  

She screamed her head off in that crate for several nights. 

Brynn and Bonnie sleeping snuggled on the bed the day after we brought Brynn home from training at Dianne's in Idaho.  They missed each other.  

Brynn last week when we took my 17 year old son to the emergency room with a broken nose.  She is wearing her service dog vest & is watching my son on the stretcher next to her.   

Here she is resting quietly next to my chair as the nurse and doctor reset his nose.

That reminds me, I never have shared with you that Brynn is also my service dog have I?   One day I will tell you about what she does for me and why.  Until then it is still a deeply personal subject and I am not quite ready to spill the beans on the internet.  Although I kinda just did - guess that is my way of working up to it.  

I may even tell you about this....meet the contents of Bea's stomach.  Removed courtesy of the vet a mere 30 minutes after ingestion.  Can you guess what that is? 

Puppies and kids.  They will make you cry or make you smile - on any given day.   You gotta love em, or you would beat them to death.