For those who noticed, I love my dog, Daisy. She was one of those dogs that God sends you when you need a dog. She came to us some months after we lost our 28 year old son. We needed her. God knew, but we didn't. We'd lost our beagle a couple of years earlier and it was so traumatic for the family, we decided not to get another one.
God knew better. My wife was caring for a senior lady, Miss Mary Bob (I kid you not). I helped out by pressure washing the black mold off the house siding. I was carrying the equipment back to the shed through Mary Bob's overgrown backyard. Her lawn guy had been deported to Mexico and hadn't swum back yet so the grass was kind of high.
These two black ears came rising up out of the grass followed by this scrawny little black dog about 5 months old. She came up to me and threw herself on her back at my feet. I could see her ribs and fleas all over her belly.
I said, "God, I just can't." You see I'd already heard that still small voice. I was just resisting. I put away the pressure washer, turned away so I couldn't see her sad little face and went back to the house. I climbed up on the porch and turned around to sit down and pull my shoes off.
And there she at, looking at me with this lop-sided grin. Then, I swear to you, she came over to me, put her paws in my lap and laid her head down with her ear on my heart. That was all it took. I called, "Help!" because I knew it was over. My wife rushed out on the porch thinking I'd lopped off some body part or another. When she saw the little dog giving me a doggy hug, she knew instantly what had happened.
"Do you think she'll eat some tuna?" she asked.
We both sprang into action. Mary Bob donated $50 for a trip to the vet for shots. We invited her to jump in the truck and she went along like she'd been jumping into our car all her life. My wife, Sheila, gave her a thorough bath and flea treatment and in a few months, she'd fattened her up.
We tested names for her. We settled on Daisy because she sprang up from a field like a little flower. She was the best dog I've ever had. She had one accident after we brought her home. I fussed at her a little and she never had another. House-broken in one! She loved to run. She made me start taking walks. God knows I needed that. My wife has occasional panic attacks. Daisy would come get me when she did and then would sit close beside her till it passed.
She slept at the foot of our bed for most of her life. She demanded lap time at least once a day. She was my friend.
On April 19, my friend passed away after a mercifully short illness. We were devastated. She was like our child and I miss her. My wife flew back to Louisiana to help her family and I spent the next six weeks at home alone without my furry friend. We traveled a lot of miles together on foot and by car. She used to sit between us in the seat and if one of us wasn't petting or scratching her, she'd put her paw on our arm and pull it toward her till we relented and gave her attention.
She was a lovely creature and I miss her terribly. I do believe that if God can give us eternal life, he can probably manage it with a dog, especially one who was as loved as my little Daisy was. Apparently, God has said he will deny his children no good thing. Daisy was a good thing - the best thing that God could have given me after my wife and children. I will see her soon. Of that I am confident.
Tom King
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