A Tribute to Rocky

This was posted by RockysMom on Clayversity on June 07, 2007:

Rocky was supposed to be short for "Rock and Roll" because he was born on the night I saw Pink Floyd in concert but my mom hated the name. One day I drove past a baby consignment shop named "Rock-a-Bye Baby" so that became his full name instead. His grandmother's name was "Love Me Tender"

Rock-a-bye Baby

June 3, 1994 ~~~ June 7, 2007

I know I haven't been around lately, not that anyone's missed me. I never really contributed anything much anyway so who cares if I'm gone, right?

Anyway, this is just to let you know that my little Rocky's two-year-long battle with cancer has ended. He pulled through so many times when the vet didn't think he would. He really lived up to his name, he was a tough little fighter, even though he looked like a delicate little powder-puff. For the past seven years he was the only family I had, the one I shared my Thanksgiving dinners with...the one I watched rip open his presents on Christmas morning...the one who snuggled under the blankets with me on chilly nights....the who gave a little "grrrrr" when I nudged him with my foot during the night....the one who somehow managed to drag a package of toilet paper twice his size from the powder room and decorate the living room with it....the one always waiting by the front door when I finally got home from work....the one right beside me while I was planting flowers and weeding my garden....the one sitting next to me while I ate, sharing my ham sandwiches...the one sleeping at my feet while I spent too many hours on the computer.

The only living thing on this planet that truly knew me and loved me,unconditionally.

He used to sit up and wave his little paws and beg for treats.

He used to "dance" underneath this Queen Anne wing chair I have and actually bounce the chair up and down if he didn't get his Milk-Bone right away.

He used to love to sit on the end table in front of the window and watch everything that happened on our street and bark his little fool head off.

He used to bark like crazy when ever he heard a door bell on TV, especially those pizza delivery commercials (I could never hit the mute button fast enough)

He loved those fuzzy stuffed doggie toys. He had one that was a train and it made all sorts of "choo-choo" sounds. He'd push it with his nose to make the sounds over and over until he wore it out and I had to buy him a new one. I kept his toys in a little foam doggie bed he'd out-grown and he'd root through, looking for just the one he wanted to play with that day. He'd even pick the bed up in his mouth and dump everything out and carry it across the living room.

He loved to un-wrap his toys, too. Ever since his first Christmas he just adored ripping off the paper and seeing what new thing he had to play with. He ripped open his last present Tuesday night, a belated birthday gift of a tiny stuffed teddy bear. A few hours later,he started to go downhill, almost as though he was waiting for us to have that last little birthday party together before we had to say good-bye.

We had almost 13 years together....ever since the first time I saw him strutting around that puppy pen carrying a big fuzzy ball bigger than he was. I don't know what I'll do without him...he certainly deserved a better mommy than I was.

How can the absence of one little heart beating and one little body breathing make a house so quiet and so empty?

Clay has an incredible voice

He's developing into an amazing all-around live performer

He gets more handsome by the day

I continue to hope and pray that he is the man I believe him to be....not perfect, but trying his best to be good and make this world a better place.

I hope and pray that someday soon (and hopefully not by his definition) he will once more have a place in my heart....but right now that heart is too broken to hold anything but grief.

To all who love and have loved their furry children:

By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill,
Is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.
Where the friends of man and woman do run,
When their time on earth is over and done.

For here, between this world and the next,
Is a place where each beloved creature finds rest.
On this golden land, they wait and they play,
Till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.

No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness,
For here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.
Their limbs are restored, their health renewed,
Their bodies have healed, with strength imbued.

They romp through the grass, without even a care,
Until one day they start...and sniff at the air.
All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back,
Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack.

For just at that instant, their eyes have met;
Together again, both person and pet.
So they run to each other, these friends from long past,
The time of their parting is over at last.

The sadness they felt while they were apart,
Has turned into joy once more in each heart.
They embrace with a love that will last forever,
And then, side-by-side, they cross over… together.

My friend is hurting. That means I'm hurting, too.