Ginger

My beloved Ginger, my neighbor’s beautiful Golden Retriever is dead. Ginger’s first love was Tim, her second love, the water, and I think that I was her third love. Tim has a wonderful pond in which Ginger spent untold hours swimming. I would go over there some afternoon with buoys to throw for both her and Macy. It was great fun for all of us.

She died last Friday evening. I did not know until yesterday. She was fetching her last ball and came upon the shore and walked up the incline only to collapse. It was quick and painless.

Tim buried her on the hill overlooking the pond. I will miss her very much. Lacy, Tim’s other dog, was very attached to Ginger. When Lacy was little, Ginger would swim and Lacy would climb upon her back. I would take the kayak out and have Ginger, Macy and Lacy swimming around. I turned it over once and wrote about it here. Ginger swam with me the entire way.

When Tim brought Ginger home, I was working in Northern Va during the week. So each week, I’d come home and find this little puppy growing quite fast. She grew so fast she blew her knees out. And this little puppy wanted so much to be friends with Lucy and Greta, neither of whom would have anything to do with her.

But then Lacy came, then Macy came. And we had this younger generation of dogs to take the work and worry of puppies off of the older dogs. With Ginger passing, a generation has passed. These dogs lived the best lives. It is not enough to love your dog, but to give your dog a place to BE a dog.

Ginger could BE. And she died doing what she loved to do.

I’m in guerilla mode at work. I had my book club yesterday, which I had to pass on. I started work at 7 a.m. yesterday and closed up shop at 8 p.m. It’s 7:03 a.m. now. I’ve another horrific day ahead. But I did want to acknowledge the passing of my good friend who I called both Gingie and Gingus Khan. She sure did conquer my heart.