WE’RE ALL DUNROAMIN’

Posted On July 3, 2013

This article was written by one of our most ardent supporters. She really “gets” the importance of the furry four-legged people in our lives. They really do make a difference.

Daisy

By Valerie Furge

When I returned to New Brunswick from Newfoundland a number of years ago, I brought four important things back with me – my two cats, my dog, and my husband. Everything else I brought back was just stuff – stuff that had to be unpacked and put away once it got here; stuff that could have been replaced had it been broken or lost in the move.

But the really important stuff, well, that can’t ever be replaced. Over the years, we lost our two cats, Katie and Tom, and recently we lost Daisy, our wonderful dog, who we had for almost 13 years. She wasn’t any special breed, just a medium-sized dog that shed terribly but had the softest ears imaginable. She didn’t do any amazing tricks but was the best foot warmer ever. She could never quite manage to catch a Frisbee but, in her early years, could run like the wind. She was the main reason – well, one of the reasons anyway – that we never had a perfect lawn but she always seemed to smell like wild clover (or cheap perfume, I was never quite sure which).

When you share your home and your life with pets for a long time, losing them leaves a sadness that seems to last forever. But, just as the sadness at losing Katie and Tom didn’t stop us from bringing other cats into our home, the sadness of losing Daisy won’t stop us from eventually welcoming another dog. He or she will be a welcome addition – but never a replacement. Because like I said, the really important stuff can’t be replaced. So, when the time is right, we will open our home to a dog that won’t be Daisy but one that I’m sure will bring us as much joy as she did.
But for now, though, I’m content to share my home with my New Brunswick cats and John, the last of the important ‘stuff’ I brought back from Newfoundland.