12/27/2023
Remembering Teddy
By Ashley DeMar
If all dogs go to heaven,
then heaven must be Old McDonald’s Farm
(since that’s where all dogs want to go).
And a few –
only the luckiest,
or at least the most memorable,
get to call this Dog Paradise home.
Such an iconic dog was Teddy.
A dog among dogs, if you will.
Lauded for such legends as
“eating four pounds of gravel and living to do it again,”
“snagging snacks from the bottom of a stroller,”
“stealing a cheeseburger from an unsuspecting child,”
and having access to inarguably the best sniffs this side of the St. Lawrence.
All dogs are a joy and all dogs live a joyful life,
but a farm dog may have the most joyful of all.
The smells, the tastes, the furry friends, the belly rubs, the Mule rides –
as one former farm employee noted,
“You never knew how much space a dog could take up until you shared the front seat of a Mule with Teddy.”
And we were joy-full to know him.
There is never a good time to say goodbye to someone you love.
But when someone has lived a life as full and as loving as Teddy,
it begins to feel less like a goodbye
and more like a going home.
When someone has lived a life as full and as loving as Teddy,
it is with thanks we give him back.
Thank you, Lord, for giving us time with a soul as special as this.
May we all endeavor to live our lives with the freedom, the love
and the playful impulsivity of Teddy
(though maybe with a more discerning stomach).
So for now we will say goodbye,
but rest in full knowledge that somewhere
there are green fields and twilight sunsets,
slow chores and long walks in our future again.
Goodbye, Teddy –
we love you endlessly.
