My Little Angel.

What do you think of when you see or hear the word Angel? Is is a person dressed in white with wings and a halo or is it someone or something that blesses your life? Is it something you can't see, or someone you see on a daily basis? To me there are two kinds of angels, ones that are heavenly beings that you can't see or ones that you can see everyday and who are there for you in person to help you through your day. I would like to talk about one angel that has blessed my life.

From the time that we were brought in contact with each other she has always blessed my life and has always been there no matter what. She always freely gave me hugs and with no words assured me that everything would be alright. She encouraged me to be better and showed me how to love and be loyal to people in my life. Not only did she protect me, but she played with me, sat with me and smiled whenever I would walk into the room.

You all must be wondering who this angel is and I will tell you this, I miss her like crazy. I am referring to my little sister and family dog Ginger, who was taken from us suddenly a little over a week ago. The sad thing about it was that I never even saw her in her illness, so it is strange that she was not here when I returned home from school. She had a bad case of cancer that spread to all of her vital organs. It all happened so quickly we all were all caught off guard.

I am not here to talk about her death, but more about her life. When I was in fourth grade we brought this wonderful little spirit into our home. She was full of energy and loved to play with us for hours, and we couldn't get enough.

 

Little did we know she would be the best and sweetest dog we had ever met. She was closest with my Mom, who has been having the hardest time with this. This is something she said in one of her emails to me..."I didn't pay close enough attention to her devotion to me and to our family.  She was just always there and she was my shadow and at times I actually got irritated because I would have to step over her.  What I would give to have her in my way today!  I saw something in her on her last day on earth that I will never forget. I know she was in pain and had no energy and was probably almost if not completely blind and yet when Marty came to the door that morning she sat up and barked because that was her job - she watched over and protected her family right to the end.  I am so grateful to have been considered worthy of the love of such a loyal and sweet creature.  She was certainly one of the angels in my life that I didn't realize I had until she was gone.  I hope I never overlook another angel again!"

It's so true how loving and devoted she was to her family. Since Ginger was a Shetland Sheepdog, she liked to heard things. There were no sheep in sight, so she liked to heard us. Whenever we would leave or come home she would always chase after us and bark. She even got in the habit of barking when we could count "1,2,3", and that in turn led to her barking whenever we would go up stairs. It was her true joy in life. Chasing, barking, and we can't forget eating.

 She would have eaten herself to death if we had let her. She also was close by us for every holiday. Christmas was one of her favorites because we would all be together in the living room sitting by the Christmas tree.

She loved to have us home during the summer because we would all play outside and just have a great time. Although she had hip problems she was a trooper and would run all day, even if it hurt her the next day. As soon as we went back to school she would commence to laying around the house waiting for us to come home.

 You could always tell when she did something she wasn't supposed to because she would do her guilty face. She didn't cause much trouble at all, only chewing up toilet paper when we would leave and one time knocking over a garbage can, but other wise she was a really well behaved animal.

Then I went away to college, and missed my gingyboo's lovin' for 7 months at a time. She's my girl and always will be. I love her with everything I have and am so happy I was blessed with such a wonderful, loyal sister. I still can hear her bark in my mind and can see her smiling face. I even sometimes hear her running up the stairs. I just wish that I could have given her one last hug and kiss, but instead I had the opportunity of having talking to her over the phone and saying my goodbyes that way. I did not have to see her suffer, which is a blessing and a curse.

She's my little angel. I'm sure she is chasing sheep and eating everything her heart desires in heaven right now. One day I will see her again, but until then I hope shes still watching over me and protecting me just like she did in life. I love you Gingyboo. Rest in Peace.