Losing Katie

October 25, 2011

October 7, 2011

Well, the studio is done. Chris scraped the old, peeling paint, cleaned off the dirt and gave it two coats of paint. Everything is ready now: the wind chimes and birdhouses have been rehung and the studio looks wonderful. But... can you see who's missing?

Katie is gone... My faithful companion passed away of heart failure due to old age in the morning of Sunday, October 23. She was 14 1/2 years old.

I used to be afraid of dogs as a child. Katie changed all that with her "surprisingly human" eyes that understood everything. She was a superb soccer dog, dribbling the ball between her front paws and heading it with her snout. She kept the backyard free of squirrels and raccoons. And she stood guard. She "guarded" me when I was in the studio, no matter the time of day or the weather... she was at her post. She kept Chris safe from the critters of the night when he went out to the hot tub. She sat by us in the kitchen, in the den, in the bedroom... no matter where we were she was right there next to us. During the past year, the stairs became a real challenge for her, but she still managed them in order to be in the same room with us.

She was doing her border collie job... we were her sheep and she was our faithful shepherd.

Katie spent Saturday lying on the living room rug. Somehow (we haven't figured out how), a bird flew into the house, flapped about the living room, and flew out when the door to the backyard was opened. After she died on Sunday, Chris noticed that one of the large azaleas in the backyard, the ones that bloom in the spring, had one huge flower on it.

Thank you Katie... you will always be in my heart.