HE PAID HER A VISIT TODAY

I�ve always liked ghost or supernatural stories ever since I was a kid. Many of the books that I read then were mysteries. I think I read every Nancy Drew book that was ever written way back then. I just couldn�t get my head out of a book when I was growing up. Before I ever wrote about dogs and the German Shepherd in particular, I started writing some spooky little tales. When I was a teenager living in Florida, I took a writing course and the short story I wrote was a spooky story. The teacher gave me an A+ on that one. I wish I would have kept it, although I do remember some of it. Now I don�t like those slice them up type of novels or movies which has played with the imaginations of viewers and readers now a days. No I rather have my imagination toyed with where I fill in the blanks. Anyway, what does this have to do with the German Shepherd Dog anyway?

Well I was talking with one of my closest �doggie� friends a couple of weeks ago. She and I go way back����..she bought a puppy from me that she trained and showed that later became, BOF Select #3 American and International Champion Chieftain�s Kharu CD. Many of you know her. Her name is Lorraine Cohen. Some of you might know that Lorraine comes from Australia. That�s where she gets that cute little accent of hers from. Anyway she and I were talking about when Kharu was very old�..over 15 years old and how at the same time, her mother was very ill. Lorraine and her husband Marc moved from the United States back to Australia where they set up a veterinarian clinic.

Anyway Lorraine�s mother became deathly ill and Lorraine had to leave her home to go be with her mother. Lorraine�s mother lived very far away from their home. Marc stayed home because at the time he had a critically ill dog in his clinic so he stayed there to tend to his patient. Long story short, Lorraine�s beloved mother passed away when she was out there with her. Unbeknownst to Lorraine, the very same night that her mother passed away, so did her beloved dog Kharu. She said Marc was with him and because he's a veterinarian, he knew that day that Kharu was going to leave them. He said the dog went and lay on his blanket on the floor and had �that look.� Marc went and sat with him on the floor and Kharu rested his head on his lap for the very last time. That is how their dog that loved to go sailing and just loved life so much spent his last moments. Marc knew that Lorraine had just lost her mother and decided not to tell her right then. After the funeral was over that�s when he made the much dreaded call to tell Lorraine that her best friend was now buried beneath the old tree in the back yard wrapped up in his favorite blanket that he had passed away on. Lorraine was devastated that she wasn�t with her beloved Kharu.

When Lorraine and Marc decided to move back to the United States, they had a decision to make. What were they going to do with their house where they raised their children and where Kharu lived most of his life? They decided that they wouldn�t sell the house and instead they would rent it. Lorraine told me she just couldn�t sell the house because that was where Kharu was laid to rest. She said that they would never let the house go. They had too many wonderful memories there.

So the house in Australia was rented while Lorraine and Marc were already back in the United States. They had a realtor take care of all of the arrangements for them. They never once met the people that rented their home. They had corresponded with their tenants and let them know that some day their children would take the house back. Well recently that is exactly what happened. Two of her children wanted to go back home.

So one day Lorraine�s son went to the house to meet with the tenants before they left their home. Now remember the tenants never met Lorraine or her family and didn�t really know anything about them. So the woman who rented the house says to Lorraine�s son how much they enjoyed living there all these years. Then she confides in him that they had conducted a s�ance in the house. �Oh wow,� I�m thinking as Lorraine is telling me this story. The woman continues to tell him that on the night that they conducted the s�ance that a German Shepherd Dog appeared and that an old lady was standing besides him. Can I tell you as Lorraine told me this, goose bumps ran up and down my arms. At first Lorraine just told me about the dog and then a minute later about the old woman. I said, �Oh my God Lorraine, that�s Kharu with your mother!� Remember they had both passed away on the very same night! She couldn�t believe it either as at first when she told the story to me; she didn�t make the connection about her mother. She just thought it must have been Kharu that the woman saw and didn�t know who the old woman could have been.

Now remember the tenant never met their landlords. They never knew that they owned a German Shepherd. They didn�t know anything about him at all. In fact they didn�t even know that the dog was buried on the property. Kharu is buried on a section of the property that leads down to the ocean. His grave is covered over with beautiful flowers surrounded by a stone wall.

I just loved this story. It reaffirms my belief that someday we�ll all be joined with our beloved dogs again. I wrote this story because just last night two different people came across the e-mail lists telling of their sorrow of losing their special dogs. They were understandably so very heartbroken. So for you who believe��they�re not gone��they�ve just gone somewhere else! And they wait��

My rating:  Believing our animals have a place in Heaven:  (4)