Friday 3 September 2010

9. Barking with Angels

Klefti left us this week. 

On the last day he couldn't eat.  His bark sounded gargled, his breathing heavy.

People said I'd just know.  When it was time.  They were right.

What is hard, is the speed of the decline - only a month - and now, the silence.  Klefti was a noisy dog and a huge presence.  He could never be ignored.  Now I walk Purdey and Tatty, and expect to hear our Greek stray barking as he plays with a new friend; I hope to see his nose snuffling and his plumy tail wagging. Instead, he is invisible, alive only in my mind.

His ghost is everywhere.  They say that time is the Great Healer, and that ghosts will turn into memories.

Meanwhile I feel hollow, and sad, sad, sad.  I cannot forget that the moment he left us, his large, amber eyes darkened.  So it is true that in death a light is extinguished.

6 comments:

  1. That is so sad, I'm so sorry to hear that. I too lost a dog when I lived in Italy and know how hard it is.
    A light maybe extinguished but I remember when we buried Ellen it was pouring down with rain, a dreadful day and as we were about to leave the forest rays of light shone unexpectedly exactly in her spot. I'll never forget it as it seemed like a sign that there is something after.
    Take care

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  2. That is so sweet! That must have given you a sense of closure (terrible American word I know). We will bury his ashes next to the body of his old pack mate on a castle mound in Ireland when we next make the trip there. I finally have a couple of pictures up, if you want to see what he looked like (and my girls too) x

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  3. When we knew our dog was on her last legs we got another one before she died. It gave her a last minute spurt of energy before she faded away. I couldn't imagine a life without a dog even though I am chief dog walker and turd collector.

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  4. So sorry for your loss. There are just some dogs we never get over, the special ones we'll remember and talk about until our memories fade. His life (thanks largely to you) sounded like a marvelous adventure - from scavenging on a beach in Greece to ruling over his pack of humans and dogs in London - which sounds almost like a plot from a book or film! Something to think about perhaps...

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  5. Thank you for your thoughtful comment on my blog last night which extinguished all the doubts I had about posting it. I wanted in return to come and pay my respects. Klefti, what a gorgeous dog and what a lovely rescue story. So sorry for your losses. It does help to blog about things doesn't it.

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  6. Thanks so much for finding Klefti here. When you said you'd visiting I felt like coming back to this post - the loss was so raw when I wrote it. For once I wrote it sparingly - his loss was good for my writing, if nothing else, and of course the painful knowledge that I had lost a true, unique friend.

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