Wasn't there an animated movie by the title once? I never saw it, I just remember the name for some reason. I've had a number of pets in my life from dogs to cats, parakeets, gerbils, guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, a squirrel, and fish, including a crayfish. We even kept a weasel in a cage once, and here in Africa we had a hedgehog. The two that meant the most to me, however, were dogs.
When I was four years old my dad brought home a little collie puppy for my brother, Steve, and I. We named her Lady, and we loved that dog. When she died at age 14 she'd been a part of the family longer than my youngest brother, Randall. She was old, had arthritic hips, and was turning gray and weak, when one night she had a stroke, went blind, nearly chewed her tongue off, and barked and howled late into the night until I called my dad and he and Steve took her to an all night vet. They gave her a shot of morphine and she died. I didn't go because I had to work early in the morning and I regretted it ever since because I never saw Lady again.
When Jonathan was four years old we got him a six week old German Shepherd/Black Lab puppy. We named him Bronco and we've had him with us for eleven years next month. When we came back from furlough last year Bronco was quite skinny and turning gray around the mouth. He was getting slow, but still he plugged on until about a week ago. We suddenly noticed he wasn't eating anything and Saturday night he threw up everything he had. The last three days he just laid around the yard almost listless, barely moving, hardly more than skin and bones. We couldn't get him to eat, and even when he drank water he just threw it up.
Yesterday I sat around with Bronco for awhile scratching his ears and telling him how sorry I was that he was suffering. I told him to hang on so Jonathan could see him after school and last night Jonathan sat around with him for awhile. This morning before we left for school I told Jonathan and Hannah to tell him goodbye because I didn't know if they'd see him again, so they did. When I got home I sat with him for a little while.
I scratched his ears and practically had to hold his chin up. He was so weak he couldn't even smile or pant. He hadn't barked in several days. I looked into his eyes and told him again how sorry I was that he would soon be leaving us. His pupils had turned blue and it looked almost like you could see deep into his eyes. Then the most amazing thing happened. At least I think it was, and I'm still not sure if I saw what I think I saw. Yesterday I noticed Bronco's hair below his eyes was all wet. It looked for all the world like he'd been crying. Then this morning as I talked to him his eyes welled up with tears. I don't know if that's possible, or if it was just sweat or moisture, but it sure looked like he was crying.
We took my uncle and cousins to the Giraffe Center and then to the airport for their safari to Masai Mara. Our guard, Ezekiel, was watching Bronco when at 11 am he suddenly sat up, shook his head violently a couple of times as if he was trying to catch his breath, stuck his front leg out stiff, then trembled and died.
When we got home Jonathan could hardly hold back the tears and once he started neither could I. I know how much he loved his dog and how his heart was breaking. We dug a hole under the fir tree in the front yard where Bronco often liked to sleep at night, and where he was lying when we left for school this morning. Ethan ran around the yard saying, "Bronco is dead," and helped scoop the dirt with his little plastic shovel. Then we thanked the Lord for letting us have Bronco for awhile, and buried him just at sunset. Supper was rather somber this evening.
It's a curious thing how an animal can get under your skin and become so much a part of your life. I think it's especially hard when you're a child growing up with an animal that has become a part of the family. When they die we grieve over some pets just like we grieve over loved ones. It almost makes you wonder about this "no soul" business for animals. There are some pets you're so close to you just hope that somehow God is going to make an exception for that one and you'll find it somewhere in heaven someday.
I once heard a preacher tell a boy that was wondering if his pet would go to heaven that "whatever it takes to make you happy in heaven will be there." The idea being, of course, that heaven is going to be so wonderful you aren't going to be unhappy. Still, I wonder about the animal part. If Christ is going to lead us all back to earth at the Second Coming on a white horse, and we'll all be riding white horses with Him, then obviously there are animals in heaven. And if there are horses, surely there will be other animals as well. And if there are other animals there, what's to stop God from making two of them Lady and Bronco?
I'm probably just being silly, but it is comforting to know that "eye has not seen, ear has not heard, neither has entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for them that love Him." - I Corinthians 2:9. Heaven is going to be wonderful beyond our wildest dreams whether there are any pets there or not, but maybe, just maybe, someday when we get there Jonathan and I will find two dogs.
7 September 10
