Dogs share their lives so briefly with us. Sometimes there comes a dog whose life is glorious. Loyalty, friendship, and unconditional love are the underpinnings of a partnership that goes beyond the common master/dog one. It becomes an actual relationship, a mutual sharing of each other's lives. Shiloh, a golden retriever, was such a dog. Her coat was coppery gold, her tail was a plume that swept sunset colors of delight for all visitors to Spot O' Heaven. Shiloh's eyes were deep brown with bronze beneath. They looked at one at once with intelligence and with laughing good humor. You felt joy with this dog. You felt connected to someone very special. Shiloh's life was cut short in a moment. It was an accident. As all accidents, it was no one's fault. It happened and our friend was lost. Now it is our hope that Shiloh stands guard for us from wherever she may be and protects the other dogs and yes, the cats too, here at Spot O' Heaven.
Our horses are the backbone of our facility. Every one of our horses have been donated by people who felt that their animals would have a good and caring place with us. Sandy, a quarter horse palamino, spent most of her life on a farm as a backyard horse. Children grew up and learned to ride on Sandy. She carried 4-Hers to shows and won bright ribbons. Sandy was in her late twenties when she came to us at Spot O' Heaven. The children of the farm were grown and gone. The first horse donated to our facility, Sandy still had much to give. Our riders delighted in her cloud-like mane and tail, and the contrast of her dark eyes to the pale gold of her body. A white streak decorated her face like the flash of lightning. Sandy began working again, teaching people to ride correctly. But slowly the outside world began to dim for Sandy as blindness stole her sight. Slowly arthritis stiffened her joints and pain was her daily companion. She still wanted to work, still needed to be with the children. Sandy had a lifetime of giving. She died at the age of twenty-nine. If there was ever a soul to take care of the horses and riders, it would be our palamino horse, Sandy.
Our riders are sometimes frail, some have terrible illness with no known cures. One girl, an eleven year old with soft blonde hair and huge blue eyes, lived her entire life with devastating heart disease. She had undergone many operations, and finally she succumbed during one of these operations when her damaged heart just gave out. Heather loved her lessons at Spot O' Heaven. Extremely shy and so soft-spoken that we had to lean forward and hold our breath in order to hear her sometimes, Heather enjoyed riding Cricket. Her pale face transformed when she was on the pony. A grin of delight would form and her eyes lit up. She had a great giggle, as the sidewalkers soon found out. They gently teased her just to hear it. Heather's time was too short, her bright life was too brief. But, how wonderful that brief time was. We are grateful that we were able to share in Heather's stay here on Earth. We hope her sweet spirit watches over us now.
The plaque that was dedicated in memory of these three lives is just a small thing in itself. It shows names and dates, and photos. A stranger seeing it may not think too much about it. But to us at Spot O' Heaven that plaque is a window that opens on many good memories of times that were shared with our friends. And now we have shared a bit of that with you...
