Queenie
born approx. 1993 - died 1/12/05
Dear Sweet Queenie Girl,
It took Dad several trips back to that lonely mountain road where he first spotted you in 1995, to finally earn your trust enough to coax you into his truck. We don’t know how long you had been there, but the spot in the grass was dead where you lay, so we surmised you had been there a while. Dad found bowls, indicating that you had survived due to a kind someone putting food and water out for you.
We didn’t know your history or how old you were. We could only speculate that perhaps a hunter had lost you. You were, after all, a blue tick hound with ragged ears. You were so afraid, at first. You would bare your teeth in false bravado, only to turn into a ball of mush when you realized the hand coming toward you wanted not to strike you, but to pat your head or rub your belly. You never seemed to truly believe that you would never go hungry again. Even until the day before you died, Dad said you ate as ravenously as ever, as if the food would disappear if you didn’t eat it in a hurry. I found it so sad, that those memories of an empty tummy never quite left you.
Thank you, old girl, for being a steadfast and true presence in my Daddy’s life for ten good years. You were his best buddy. Especially after Mom went to the nursing home last year, the bond between you and Dad grew even stronger. It’s as if you sensed his loneliness and knew what to do to help. Dad would often tear up over recent months and say, “There will never be another one like old Queen.”
I heard the news last night when I made my weekly call to dad. As usual, I asked “How are my babies?” Dad’s voice cracked as he said, “Old Queen passed peacefully yesterday. I buried her out under the big tree where she liked to lay.” For several minutes we didn’t say a word…just sat there and cried together.
Your puppy buddy Jake, who adored you but drove you insane, didn’t understand. Dad said he kept licking your mouth, trying to get you up and moving like he always did over the past year. Jake will miss you too.
Rest now, old girl, and watch over Dad and comfort him if you can. His house and heart feel especially empty now with you and Mom gone. He loves Jake, but you were his girl.
Good girl, Queen-Queen, good girl.
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