~*Memorial Day Weekend Gathering SUNDAY ~*May 29th, 2011~*

[Cincy'sMom]

Who's who in the group photo?

Across the front, 4 Dog Mother with Dominic on her lap. Jasmine is on the table (Dakota's Mommy's kids). Joan and Pat are next, Phred's friends from Berlin Center (the ones who often watched Cinder and Smoke, and who have Callie and Molly that Phred often watched). Grace is poking her head between them. I am on the ground next to Pat, with my husband (Sadie'sDad) behind.

Standing (l to r) is Phred's sister Nancy, Dakota'sMommy, k9krazee, Robilee, Angus'sDad and Anna_66, Doug (Grace's husband), ramanth, shais_mom, 5 Dog Dad, wolf_q and her husband Corby.

[Husky_mom]

waterworks full on.. :´)

Phred was most definitely there.. I´m sure he organized everything for you to have nice weather..

adorable tribute!!.. couldn´t be better..

miss you Phred.. take care of our own up there.. we´ll see ya´ll later..

[RobiLee]

Enjoyed the photos, Ashley and Staci. Good job! Ashley, I really liked how you set up the collages. I'm going to save those.

I had a really good time yesterday. It was so nice to see everyone. I was touched by sadness when I first pulled up because it was usually Phred that was always there to greet me. It was really great to meet his sister Nancy and his friends, Joan and Pat. Staci read Karen's tribute to Phred and it was very touching and the memorial stone was beautiful. Loved seeing all the dogs and chatting with friends!

Wish I would have taken more picture and tried to at least get one of each person and dog but I was just too busy enjoying the day. Here's the photos that I did get.







Dakota and Chipper


Amy and Corby


Phred's sister, Nancy



My boy, Zack


Cincy


Dazzi

[RobiLee]

Amy


Chipper


Kia


Kimmy on the phone with Slick


Nancy and Ashley


Jasmine and Dominic



Ashley


Roxey


Staci, who can eat and wave at the same time!

[RobiLee]

Christy, Dominic and Jasmine


Joan with Cinder and Smokey



Carl getting ready to start the memorial for Phred


Staci reading Karen's tribute

[anna_66]

What a great day we had! We missed all of you who couldn't be there, but I know you were all there in spirit

Like Robin said, it's strange not having Phred there to welcome us as he always did, but there was a wonderful tribute to him that had been set up.

We had a very nice memorial around 2 and everyone shared their special stories. It was touching and heartbreaking. Carl, Diana & Staci did a great job and the stone is beautiful. I know Phred would have approved...the dogs sure did

Little miss Huney decided to rest by it. Phred was one of her most favorite people...he always had the good cookies

I think our group photo turned out pretty good!

A photo of the trees and bench was wanted. The trees have gotten HUGE!

We had a great time!

I'm having problems with the picture site so I'll just add them as attachments.

But if you want to see them all here is the album....share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9QZtWbhy0YUY
Enjoy the pictures as a slideshow in full screen...much better!

[Freckles]

Loved all the pictures and happy the weather was good. Karen, could you please copy your tribute to Phred to this thread?

[Karen]

Loved all the pictures and happy the weather was good. Karen, could you please copy your tribute to Phred to this thread?

John Morris, a.k.a. Phred was more than a beloved member of Pet Talk, he was a pillar of the community in many, many ways. He was a worrier about the youngsters on the board, a sucker for a pooch in need, and - not everyone will know this - the only other member of Pet Talk that we ever allowed to be a moderator. He and one other person that we later had to ban were asked and took on the task in October of 2001, when Paul and I were traveling to Beijing for a week, and unsure what Internet access we'd have. He did a great job, but I don't think he got a lot of sleep that week, he was so concerned about keeping everything going, so once we were back home, he asked to be demoted again pretty quickly.

You all know what a great and often wry sense of humor he had, and self-deprecating doesn't even begin to cut it. But what you may not know is how much he cared even off the board for members. He was known to get directions to the lost, help a wayward member with car trouble on a cross-country trip, and spend the time to call folks he felt were missing, or might need a phone call. I got several calls when he was worried about one person or another over the years, and as his health deteriorated, I became the one to call him instead. I remember the first time he was hospitalized with serious heart trouble, and I was calling the hospital to check on him. I knew other Pet Talkers had likely already called, and I figured they'd only believe so many "I'm his ex-wife" claims, so when the nurse on the desk said, in a brisk, faintly disapproving manner, "Are you a relative?" I answered, "Not really, but he calls me "Mom" even though I'm a good bit younger than he is ..." and she changed her tone, chuckled and put me through.

He was an organizer - of these gatherings, of the bench and memorial, and other quieter gestures. We still have the silk flowers he sent us when Miss Hoppy died, they are on the mantle of our new apartment. And "Stoney" the rabbit he sent us one Christmas is in the living room - it's theoretically a garden ornament, but never went outside or got dirty.

His unique take on posting in Cinder and Smoke's vernacular will forever be a part of Pet Talk, and certain threads of his will be remembered forever. He left is mark on us all, and left the world a better place than it likely was before he to came this ol' dirtball. And although he passed away, he remains one of us, because as I have said before,

Death does not win
Love lives on
In stories and memories
In gestures and phrases
Long after our bodies have failed,
Love lives on.

We miss him, but smile thinking of the raucous greeting he surely got that day, when he arrived at The Rainbow Bridge, to be greeted not only by Boots, and Bowser, but by all the animals he loved over the years.

And we'll see him again some day when we get there, too, and look forward to that hug.