For One More Day

Roo - no caption necessary

It's Sunday, one week since the legend that is Roo, went down. One week since a growing number of very different individuals, from every corner of the globe, 'gathered' around his bed to light his passing. He was just a month past his sixteenth birthday. A birthday it had sometimes seemed, he wouldn't make. A birthday which was celebrated across the world, from the Americas to the UK, and from Europe to the Southern Hemisphere. A day which none of us who were 'present', will ever forget.

Birthday cake a la Nan - 06.05.2014

For two days we sat, in shifts determined by our individual time zones, by his bedside. We watched, and we waited for news. Nan Kilgore Little, Roo's two legged lifelong companion, re-named her Morning Roo Report, Roo Watch. No-one commented on this, words were unnecessary. It was his time. All we could do, we known as the gRoopies, was to send prayers and love to our hero, and strength to Nan. This vigil was quite possibly unique. I cannot imagine, even in the social media age, that there have been too many stories like this one. In my view, it's about the unique pairing of Nan, a special person in her own right, and Roo, the boy she raised, and has loved every day of his life.

And then, something happened, something that had always been just out of sight, slowly came into focus. There's this dog, we knew him before as Barkool the clown, the dog who was never upright, the one who made us laugh. Imperceptibly, he became Barkool the strength giver, Barkool the protector. He became Sam Gamgee to Roo's Frodo. Always there, shouldering Roo, guarding him, pulling him into the light. I imagine him, in my mind's eye, barring the way across the Rainbow Bridge, gently telling Roo, in those first two days, "Not yet buddy, it's not your time." Call me a dreamer if you will, but I believe that after the events of this extraordinary week, anything is possible.

Roo and Barkool - He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother... (click link)

However and whyever it happened, Roo rallied. On the third day he ate little, on the fourth he took a somewhat wobbly stroll around the yard. Always by his side, the stalwart Barkool. The week progressed, and so did Roo. Shaking her head in disbelief, Nan was forced to abandon Roo Watch and return to the Morning Roo Report. We, the gRoopies, rejoiced. Yes, he is old, yes his body is weak, but his spirit is indomitable. His will to live is oh so strong, his joy in his family and at his life, is obvious. He has Barkool by his side now, emboldening his weak body and fortifying the strength of his spirit. How long he can go on, this boy who lives beyond reason, no-one knows. Roo will decide when it's time to go, when it's time to leave Nan, his family, Barkool and us, behind, and travel, just like Frodo, to the Undying Lands. Until then, Roo, we will treasure every moment with you. We will be forever grateful for the chance to share your journey, grateful too, for one more day.

This has been a week like no other. A week in which I have cried tears of sadness and of joy, and laughed in amazement and with sheer delight. A week when it was proven to me once again, that dogs do indeed have souls, and that there is hope for us humans, after all.