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| Lacey October 25, 2001 - October 19, 2016 |
Lacey has been my friend and companion for nearly fifteen years. Not nearly so well traveled as I, she was born and lived her life in the beautiful San Francisco Bay area. Shortly after I moved into my current home in Berkeley, my daughter reminded me of my promise that we could get a dog once I moved out of my rental home and bought a house. So the day after Christmas, 2001, we brought home an adorable bundle of puppy love ... and named her Lacey because of the lace-like pattern of grey, black, and white on her fur.
An Australian Shepherd and Border Collie mix, her pedigree suggested that she would be intelligent, loyal, and full of energy ... and this has been very true. One dog walker we know called Lacey the most intelligent dog she ever met. And her boundless energy as a puppy was infectious. We would take her into Tilden Park for daily walks, and she would run circles around us as she explored the woods, smelled every bush in sight, and chased deer and even birds. (She never caught anything).
Nothing was more fun to Lacey than a car trip. I remember taking her to Limantour Beach in Marin County where she dug holes in the sand, to Ocean Beach in San Francisco where she did the same, and to Briones Regional Park where, to our horror, she took special delight in rolling in cow poop. We were so embarrassed when we brought our smelly puppy back to the car, wrapped her in a large sheet blanket, and drove straight to Pet Food Express and its dog washing facilities. But mostly we went for long walks in the regional parks in Berkeley and Oakland, California.
Alas, time takes its toll on each of us. Just six days short of her fifteenth birthday, Lacey is nearly 105 years old in people years. We have had a wonderful life together, and she has given so much to us. But she has slowed down and, now, cannot even stand for more than a few seconds or walk more than a few feet. She has lost her appetite and, sadly, her time has come. A vet is coming to our home later this evening ...
I write this loving remembrance with tears in my eyes. She has been surrounded for the past day by her family and friends, wrapped in our presence and washed in our love. Lacey has been a wonderful friend, faithful companion, and loving presence in my life. I will miss her deeply. In the words of the old hymn, God be with you 'till we meet again.
In the divine order of nature, both life and death, joy and sorrow, serve beneficent ends, and in the fullness of time we shall know why we are tried, and why our love brings us sorrow as well as happiness. Union Prayer Book, Vol. 1 (1960) p. 151
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