I want to night to tell you a bit about Leticia. But first, I should say that Leticia died at 11 years, eight months, peacefully today, at 3:30 PM, in my arms, at home, in deep peace with all the people who loved her most, (her spiritual family), and all the angels I could possibly have crammed into my living room. The vet technician came to my home and waited as I did a funeral service for her. I blessed and anointed her with fragrant oil, I ask the angels to sing her to her rest and for Archangel Azrael and Saint Francis, who love animals, to quickly send her spirit home. We then read a beautiful poem from the Bible:
“To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heavens. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to pluck up that which has been planted. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to break down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together. A time to embrace and a time to reframe from embracing. A time to get and a time to lose. A time to keep and a time to cast away. A time to rend and a time to sew. A time to keep silence and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time of war and a time of peace. ... He has made all things beautiful in His time. … It is the gift of God. I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever.”-- Ecclesiastes III
Everyone knows that a guide dog is a special companion animal for people without physical sight. And, most certainly Leticia of the long feathers was that. Tish was born in November of 96 and is/was a blond golden retriever with the most fabulous eyelashes and loveliest brown eyes. She had a joy in her that was evident to Everyone who met her. It’s not just that she was a well trained, well-behaved golden, capable of guiding under the most trying of circumstances; it was that she was a lover of humankind. For that matter she loved everything, including apples slices, baby carrots, zucchini, blueberries and most especially broccoli florets. I never saw a dog love veggies as much as she did.
Tish was sent out early in her career as a guide dog, but her person died, and I think that was hard for her. She was retrained at GDB and when offered to me as a ‘Retrain’, I accepted her. But from the first she was guarded, not sure if she wanted to let her incredible loving spirit out. She wasn’t sure that she would trust me enough to let me see her; that is, until the day at school we played tug of war with the infamous rubber ring toy. Then, of a sudden her spirit popped right out and I could clearly feel who she was. I remember saying, “Oh, so that’s who you are.” And from that day to this our bond has grown ever stronger.
Tish knew my feet were no match for variations in pavement texture; she sensed even from the beginning that she needed to find a way to ‘signal’ me that surfaces or uneven steps were especially dangerous for me. And she learned to do this, right from the get-go. She’d wiggle her butt in just such a way that I knew that her little prancing steps meant that something different was coming and I aught to be more careful. When trundling down theater steps in the semi dark of the auditorium, she’d lean her head low, gazing at my tennis shoes to judge if I was getting that one long, one short, step just right. She loved going out, never missed a chance to show how much she wanted to ‘take me’ there, wherever there might be. She’d do this kind of little pirouette, balancing on one paw, while the rest of her went round and round in joyous anticipation of our next adventure. She smiled that wonderful doggy smile with that grunt-sigh that meant all’s right with my world mom and can’t we just do it one more time.
Tish loved our cat and our cat loved her; especially she loved birds and small children. Anyone under 5 had permission from me to pet and talk to her, almost without exception. Tish loved babies, toddlers in stores, babies at baptisms, small ones wondering airport hallways and my neighbor’s lively Scottish children. She never missed an opportunity to give out her love and demonstrate a spirit of unconditional love. People would spontaneously reach out to pet her, often forgetting to ask my permission to do so. They loved her at church, they loved her at work, they loved her in the State capitol, in hotels, trains, plains – the flight attendance went gaga over her.
I think the overriding thing here is that dogs have a great deal of love to share, and if they have a human who truly recognizes them for who they are, they abound with that loving energy in every way in every part of life. Tish and I shared that unconditional state of being that reached out to others. In my work as a minister and as an advocate for persons with disabilities, she was a big part of that picture. I bless her and send her the highest tribute possible, the recognition of her indomitable spirit!
Rev. Lyn AliceAnn Saunders
Los Altos California