Rescue Journal

all day i was trying to wrap my head around copper's death.

Carol  ·  Mar. 12, 2010

the problem was years ago i decided that he would live to be 20 at least cuz only the good die young. the other issue is the animals who were with me before the saints journey began, are mostly gone now. there is just the fruit loops, dixie, frodo, tyra and me left...everyone else is gone...sophie, bill, wilbur, copper, tally, marilla, clover, pause, ogidie, julie, hickory, murphy, romeo and wee hopeful bug. i built saints for them because they built saints within me.

i learned more from copper than i can ever say. he made me a better parent, he made me a better rescuer, he made me a better person in so many ways. he taught me about patience and loving little assholes, he taught me how to laugh in adversity and how to stand firm when getting pushed around. he taught me that right, not easy, always comes first...and i always did try to do right by him.


i said once that death was not the terrible monster...sometimes life is. copper had a very good life. he had a fan club that spanned back 10 years ago when i used to write stories about him in website diaries and rescue forums. he never had fortune, but he did have a bit of fame.

one of the nurses today told me she remembered a story from many years ago when copper used to entice a blind dog to play and then purposely run him into a tree for fun (that was poor arthur.) i had forgotten about that..he was such a little bugger.

anyway, when i got home and got everyone out to pee. i took a few minutes for a quiet hot bath to really think about what copper's death means to me.

and it means that for the last year of his life, copper was happy. he had a home, he had a family who loved him.

i did right by him.

i will always love you, i will always miss you and i will always know, there will never again be a dog like you.
rest in peace copper top, little gipper, the beagle from hell...you made your mark on this world...you made your mark on me.

Comments

Marisa

Carol, this is another one of your truly singular posts and should definitely go in the book. The way you write in this one just shoots right to the heart, "i built saints for them because they built saints within me."

Carol

ahhhh arthur...another truly special one...i need to write his story one day for folks to read..he too was a pre-saints saint.
thx for the update shelagh, i am really happy the sofa is getting good use!

if you send me a picture, i now know how to post it with his story! (i lost all of the old pics in the last computer crash)

Shelagh

Now that is a story I had not heard before - my beautiful Arthur being deceived and run into trees by Copper. Good grief!

I am very sorry to hear Copper passed away - the postings you have made Carol indicate he lived life in a big way.

PS - Arthur is doing fine but has really aged this past year and was diagnosed last year with DM (degenerative myelopathy). He is very comfortable (is on meds), still manages well with his daily walks (although shorter distances now) and of course still lives on the sofa! We adore the big guy.

Shelagh