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Sheltie Angels Among Us Copyright L. M. Crane, 1998

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Sheltie Angels Page Forty-Four

 

"Cayman"

September 14, 1997 - June 13, 2009

 
 

 
   
Cayman was my first and only dog. A Christmas puppy in 1997 from my partner, Michael, shortly after I graduated from college as a clinical social worker. My partner struggled with alcoholism that left me feeling lonely. He blessed me with Cayman. A sable sheltie who had been shipped to Anchorage from a puppy mill in Missouri who was barely six weeks old, had huge eyes and was nearly bald. With love, his coat blossomed and he grew to be a strong, handsome and magnificent being. Little did I know the effect he would have on my life or the lives of so many.

In his first year, Cayman would go with me to visit patients in adult daycare centers who were too depressed or demented to speak. He would jump on their laps and give them kisses to make them smile. Some centers made special doggie treats for our visits. The seniors took great pleasure in making him do little tricks for treats. Cayman loved to perform. Some years later, while working a summer program for seriously emotionally disturbed children, we had Cayman Day every Thursday. Cayman helped the kids to work together, to be quiet, to play safe and to feel lovable. An 8 year old boy who refused to talk, learned that it was safe to talk with Cayman, and on our departure, would hold Cayman and whisper, "I love you so much, Cayman, please come back." Earlier this year, Cayman helped me in the primary care clinic where I work with the homeless. When clients would cry, he would tuck his nose in their legs and they would smile. For a few minutes, they could pet his softness and remember that they must not be so bad after all. After a few visits to the clinic, he started to act like he owned the joint and staff treated him like my little assistant. He helped everybody to relax and to enjoy the moment.

Cayman was and will always be my beautiful Prince, master teacher, play mate, and noble protector. He changed my life. Life will never be the same, and for now, I am feeling very lost without him by my side. Like him, I must muster the strength to move forward and to find joy even in this pain just like he did.  For nine months he was a gallant fighter through nasal cancer.  No pain could keep him from doing joyful spins and chasing his favorite sticks in our field of green clover and daisies.  We played up until the day before his tumor erupted.  His suffering ended within a few hours.  His little body was put to rest in my arms so his beautiful spirit could make way for the Rainbow Bridge.  One week later, a rainbow appeared in the sky.  

My little Angel, Cayman, shine your light and lead the way until we meet again.  I love you with all my heart.

Your Guardian  Mom 

 


 

U-CDX Starhaven's Megan, CDX
"Megan"

February 5, 1995 - June 14, 2009
   
   

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." ~Dr. Seuss

Loved and missed by Garry and Diane Bartlett

 

 

My-Lu's Tinkerbell The Fairy, CGC

"Tinkerbell"

November 5, 1997 - August 24, 2008
   
   
How do miracles happen? I don't really know, but let me share with you the small miracle that came into my life and changed it forever. Tinker chose to come live with me over many other families that inquired about her. She was truly my heart dog from day one and influenced my life in ways that have changed me forever. Even though she has no "titles", Tink taught me agility, obedience, herding, tracking, animal therapy and in general how to be a better person. She stood by my side through illness, injury and hardship. She reminded me that I needed to keep trying to make my dreams come true. I beamed because she was a part of my life. I miss her every day and am thankful to have had the honor to have been her human.

Tinker taught me how to live, not just exist, and The Dance by Oriah is dedicated to her.

If love could have saved her, she would have lived forever.

Angela Myracle

~

The Dance

I have sent you my invitation,
the note inscribed on the palm of my hand by the fire of living.
Don't jump up and shout, "Yes, this is what I want! Let's do it!"
Just stand up quietly and dance with me.

Show me how you follow your deepest desires,
spiraling down into the ache within the ache,
and I will show you how I reach inward and open outward
to feel the kiss of the Mystery, sweet lips on my own, every day.

Don't tell me you want to hold the whole world in your heart.
Show me how you turn away from making another wrong
without abandoning yourself when you are hurt and afraid of being unloved.

Tell me a story of who you are,
and see who I am in the stories I live.
And together we will remember that each of us always has a choice.

Don't tell me how wonderful things will be... some day.
Show me you can risk being completely at peace,
truly okay with the way things are right now in this moment,
and again in the next and the next and the next...

I have heard enough warrior stories of heroic daring.
Tell me how you crumble when you hit the wall,
the place you cannot go beyond by the strength of your own will.
What carries you to the other side of that wall,
to the fragile beauty of your own humanness?

And after we have shown each other
how we have set and kept the clear, healthy boundaries
that help us live side by side with each other,
let us risk remembering that we never stop silently loving
those we once loved out loud.

Take me to the places on the earth that teach you how to dance,
the places where you can risk letting the world break your heart.
And I will take you to the places where the earth beneath my feet
and the stars overhead make my heart whole again and again.

Show me how you take care of business
without letting business determine who you are.
When the children are fed but still the voices within and around us
shout that soul's desires have too high a price,
let us remind each other that it is never about the money.

Show me how you offer to your people and the world
the stories and the songs
you want our children's children to remember.
And I will show you how I struggle not to change the world,
but to love it.

Sit beside me in long moments of shared solitude,
knowing both our absolute aloneness and our undeniable belonging.
Dance with me in the silence and in the sound of small daily words,
holding neither against me at the end of the day.

And when the sound of all the declarations of our sincerest
intentions has died away on the wind,
dance with me in the infinite pause before the next great inhale
of the breath that is breathing us all into being,
not filling the emptiness from the outside or from within.

Don't say, "Yes!"
Just take my hand and dance with me.

(c) Oriah Mountain Dreamer, from the book "The Dance", Harper San Francisco, 2001

 

"Gertie"
August 7, 1994 - August 4, 2009

 

Sheltie Angels Page Forty-Five

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