On Friday July 4th my four legged friend passed away. Her name was Marley, and while she wasn’t any taller than a Munchkin in Oz, she packed more attitude in her than Moesha, Rihanna and Serena & Venus all combined.
Marley had a way of expressing herself with just a few selective looks that were either to tell you a) she wasn’t amused by something you were doing b) you looked ridiculous doing whatever it was you were doing or c) she was now hungry and it was time for the Royal Food Procession. This last look was important because if you didn’t catch on to what she was trying to tell you, Marley had a few weapons at her disposal. The first was repeated scratches on your leg (most effective if you were wearing shorts) and if that didn’t work she would escalate to the Cavalcade of Barking. Used by Ms. Marley quite frequently, the listener is pummelled into submission by an onslaught high pitched barking. It was in these fits of sassy-ness that I referred to her majesty as Princess Fiona.
What I’ll remember about Marley were the times she just couldn’t leave a box of tissue alone- and the times when she couldn’t hide the evidence. Just follow the trail of torn Kleenex right up to her dog bed, or spot the pieces in her whiskers, and the culprit was easy to identify. Another one of her comical moments was when her long ears sometimes got in the way of a good squirrel chase. But the memory that sticks with me the most is how after every groom she loved to walk home and show off. Her head was up, there was a spring in her step and strangers would stop and compliment how good Marley looked- and one look from those soulful brown eyes you knew she knew it too. This is the Marley I’m going always to remember.
Thank you, Miss Marley, for those neighbourhood walks, thank you for your never ending affection, and thank you for all the sassy-ness.
Your human family down here loves you and misses you greatly. It was an honour to serve you.
With Love,
Your Pack Leader
aka Chris"it's gonna be a long walk home"
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