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| Mo needs you! |
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Our guest blogger is Tia Ferguson. This is her daughter Kate and their first lab, Java |
Our first Chocolate lab, Java, came to us at the
same time as our first child, so our two children had never known life without
Java. We took a lot of family vacations driving across the country, and
did a lot of fishing, canoeing, and camping as a family. Java was with us
on every outing. My husband often took her duck hunting during the winter
months on a small island, near where we do a lot of fishing and camping.
She would get extremely excited as soon as he took out the hunting gear,
as it was her favorite outing. The kids were 6 and 7 when Java died, and this
was their first experience with the loss of a loved one. We decided to
bury her at her favorite hunting spot on the island. We drove down the
long gravel country road that dead-ended into the river and took her body in
the canoe to the hunting island and buried her. Throughout the day, the
whole family was sad, and the kids kept asking questions like, "Do dogs go
to heaven?" and "Will we see Java again when we go to heaven?"
They talked about how they had debated this in their Catholic school, and
that some people in their class didn't think there were dogs in heaven. I
assured them that they would see Java again.
After burying Java, with the kids helping to tamp
down the dirt on the grave, we said a prayer, got back in the canoe and headed
for home. When we got back to the car, my husband was loading the canoe
on car’s roof-top carrier. The kids and I were waiting next to the car
and talking about all the funny stories and great times we had with Java.
I just happened to look down, and a shiny gold coin was lying in the
gravel next to the car. I reached down and picked it up, and saw that it
had an angel on each side of the coin. I showed it to the kids and told
them it must be a sign from heaven, to assure them that indeed, dogs do go to
heaven and that Java was up there waiting on them!
(The rest of the story…)
Over the years, we've told that story countless
times, and have had three other chocolate labs since then, all who have added
joy in our lives! I've kept the gold coin in my car, and brought it out
during difficult times to remind us that God is with us. Two months ago,
my car was broken into and the coin was stolen, along with other change.
I was upset, to the point where I couldn't tell the story at work. The
kids decided that the person who stole the coin must need it more than us, and
that maybe it would help them in a similar way to how it has helped us.
Days later, I explained to my fellow workers why I was so upset when my
car was robbed by telling the story above. Two days later, I was upstairs
getting coffee in the coffee room, and there on the table, where people put
lost and found items, was an identical gold angel coin. I walked over and
picked up the coin and showed it to my coworkers. It wasn't the exact
coin, because this one was shinier, but it was the same mold. These are
the only two coins like this I have ever seen, and no one that I have shown it
to has seen it anywhere else.
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| Schnauzer/wirehaired terrier |
Everyone needs a little “Mo” love in their life and this guy has tons to give! The shelter said he was 12 years old but he’s got the energy of a 5 year old! He LOVES to run and play and then to take naps! And he loves toys. Great with kids, cats and other dogs! He’s housebroken and we can’t say enough about his awesome haircut! If you are looking for a low key fun small dog then Mo is your man!
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