Two Shelties

 So, I was back at my folks house recently.  I brought my son and my dog.  I took my dog out for a walk and went down a street that I hadn't been walked down in over 30 years.  Walking down that road brought back some memories from high school walking my sheltie.  On that road there was another sheltie that would charge us and then hang out observing his/her mirror image in my dog as we walked by.  I don't think of my pets that I grew up often but this walk brought back a wave of memories about my sheltie dog Chewy.  He was a good dog, and there is some guilt associated with him as he was neglected by my family during my high school years.  Everyone was so busy he kind of was just left by himself out in the back yard for long periods of time.  It wasn't good for him.  Towards the end of my high school years I started feeling guilty and I would take Chewy out on a walk not every day but most days.  I'd also take him jogging with me through a park sometimes.  My father ended up putting him down when the cancer in his leg got so bad he couldn't go for his walks anymore as that was my Dad's redline.  I was away at college and I didn't get to say goodbye. As I walked back to my folks house with my dog I imagined walking Chewy along side of me.  Some good came out of Chewy's neglect though, as I've had numerous dogs in my adult years and all of them have been inside dogs that are with me pretty much all the time except when I'm out doing errands or at work.  They benefit from poor Chewy's legacy.  

So my dog now, the ghost of Chewy, and a lot of memories walked by the ghost of the sheltie who used to charge us.  The memories actually hit me pretty hard for some reason.  I took my hat off when I walked by the home where the other sheltie had lived.  I thought about Chewy and other lost pets.  I'm getting old.  Chewy passed away over 34 years ago.  I don't know if animals that lived on earth are brought back to life when Christ raises us all up again, but I hope to see Ace, Zeus, Shylow, Grover, Chewy, Stalker, Acer, Grover II, Heidi, Big Red, Lazlo, Niko, some nameless fish and mice, and Zoey in my future again, as well as the many animals I encountered in my travels like the sheltie on the corner. 

Till then they live in my memories.