"I have had many dogs in my time and while I remember them all fondly, I never thought that I would miss the passing of one as much as I miss 'Lady', the rough collie that shared the life of Sheila and myself until she died on the 19th, September 2016. My mind was active in bed last night so I came downstairs for a few hours. As I ate a slice of comfort toast, topped with my favourite marmalade and whisky jam that a lovely lady called Anne makes me, I forgot momentarily as I'm prone to do these days and handed the last piece to Lady in her spot at the side of the table where she sat most of the days as Sheila and me worked on our laptops.
I have often heard of people seeing loved ones who have died in their favourite chair or place in the house, and while my mind frequently goes to deceased loved ones, they usually remain wholly imaginary and never appear in the third dimension or any other lifelike vision. Anyway, as I was obviously thinking of our faithful dog early this morning, I looked up some photographs we have and thought I would use a poem I wrote as a eulogy to her on the day she died on September 19th, 2016 as my 'Thought for today'.
'Watch over us in gratitude' by William Forde.
(Copyright: William Forde: September 19th, 2016)
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'It's very hard to be one's best,
to have a mind that will not rest.
Be sustained by bones that only ache,
to pulsate a heart that wants to break;
yet, have the knowledge from above,
to know that those we truly love
will never leave us, never die,
instead, will roam above on high,
and watch over us in gratitude.'
William Forde: January 11th, 2018.