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Cody has now crossed over
the Rainbow Bridge
April 21, 2008
March 1, 2008
January 28, 2008
December 23,2007
In Cody's MEMORY we wish
you all a
November 29th I have sat here at my computer trying to find enough strength to write about my beloved CODY! Wanting to share with you why and how this is all so hard for me.....then .....I thought back to less then a week ago, Sunday....Nov. 25th.....Me and Cody just had a really nice day.....I had Miss Giz, a puppy from Cherokee and Gizmo up at the house along with Jack and Bubba.....playing...it was a pretty nice day.....Cody spent some time with her great grandpup....Miss Giz.....it was a really hard day for me...I have struggled with my decision to let CODY go for months.....she knew somehow....she knew my heart was heavy and she played with Miss Giz and then looked at me and I knew she was done.....she was tired, hurting and I think just plain ole worn out...... My struggle is no less, no more then what I am sure others have faced. I do not think I am any different then any of you out there who have loved and lost.....but I know I am forever changed because of Cody....she taught me things I would have never learnt without her.....she was kind, patient, caring and loving....easy to love and so gentle.....she knew when I would THINK about yelling at one of the kids or other dogs : ) she would instantly think, WHERE'S THE DOOR : ) haha she didn't want to be in the cross fire.....God, I miss you Cody. I wanted to write about all my memories, to share with you about things she did and was to me, but I think YOU ALL KNOW that Cody was the reason for everything I did and will continue to do here. Through her so many and I mean MANY lives have been touched and somehow, through it all, she was just CODY...just my dog.....my companion and my friend, not knowing TRULY how she had made such an impact on my life. She was my official Greeter at the GATE when anyone would arrive and she loved it. She would dance around and brush up against you just so you could have a little of her black hair : ) She would inform the others that SHE was the reason you were here!! And when you would leave, she would go back to being CODY, my best friend and companion....laying at my feet, asking for a cookie and giving me that 'big brown eyes look' : ) Again, THANK YOU ALL.....for helping me through such a rough time. I have received many cards, beautiful flowers and unbelievable words of love and encouragement!! I cannot express my gratitude and appreciation to you all.....I will try to continue onward, knowing Cody would want me to....knowing that I have alot more of HER to share with folks!! KODA, her daughter is due to have puppies here any day. I am blessed.....needless to say that I still have such a huge part of Mama here....with us still...... AGAIN, I say.... IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU CODY...... til we meet again............
This page is ONGOING.....Cody at this date is still here with me.....it's something that I wanted to start NOW while she is still here....Please understand that I will add things all the time.....it's just something I wanted to do for her....she is so precious to me.......
Cody......... You know.....alot of you know me so well and you know how I have struggled with my LOVE and DEVOTION to my old girl CODY! It's been an incredible ride Cody! To LOVE you has been such a gift and blessing.........TO YOU I OWE so much.....YOU were there when I needed you, when not even a HUMAN was around : ) It's a LONG LONG story but only Cody and I have the memories in our hearts forever! There is much that you do not know about Cody....many things that we love about her, many things that we would just crack up over her. She was ornery alot of times, stubborn, irritable and just snotty! haha That is what I loved so much about her because on the flip side, she was loving, devoted, caring, generous with her love, funny, happy, playful........well you get the picture.....she really was one in MILLIONS!! not just a Million!! My heart is so heavy with that thought of losing her. It's not just the thought, it's the reality that I know will happen......We all have loved and lost.....whether it be human or animal....it's extremely hard......I owe so much to Cody.....many many days she was my constant companion......even going to work with me many years ago as a puppy.....although my shifter in my truck knew all to well what she was capable of! haha yep- she was a puppy once and chewed about anything she could get her teeth into : ) but even then I knew that she was special......really special! I did not buy CODY to breed her......I bought her to be a companion to me and my horses.....she proved to be just that.....sted fast always....never leaving my side......as I cleaned the barn, she was right beside me.....of course finding a horse poo here and there to carry around!! I carried her on my saddle for many miles in the beginning.....she never complained....almost like she knew what she was there for and what she was doing...it truly was strange...even then........she continued to grow and of course at some point she was placed on the ground to HOPEFULLY follow me and my horse.......She DID just that....... At that time it was just me and Cody......existing......we lived with my Mom
and Misty!! It was wonderful! I grew up there and so Cody seemed to
FIT right in....She figured things out and learned to be GOOD when she needed to
be and was always bad when she had the opportunity!!!! : ) Cody also had her first litter of puppies for us in our rented house in Kinsman......wow, thinking back now, it really does seem so long ago......we found this house in which we live now and decide to purchase it.....but there were lots of folks who thought we were just NUTS because the house was gutted, completely and there were no dividing walls inside...nothing, so we had to decide if it was something we could 'take on' and we did......like I have said many times over, CODY is the reason for what we do here and for being here!! She had a partner in crime as well.....DINK, Paren's Chocolate Lab!! Dink and Cody went everywhere with us...Dink seemed to be the stable one where Cody was the happy, carefree, Let's do something type of dog......ALL THE TIME : ) Cody and Dink would hop in the pickup truck we had at the time and then our suburban and we would come to the house daily to work on it. Paren did it all....COMPLETELY! from windows, to the floors, electric and plumbing......we worked day and night and in October we moved in.....NO, the house was not completed but it was good enough for us! Cody and I felt like we were in heaven! Paren has given me so many wonderful memories here.....He too is the reason we are here.....he knew my heart was real with the love of my Cody...... So Cody's first litter of puppies was trucked back and forth from Kinsman to Burghill......daily :) We had a toddler's playpen that we would get out, set up and place the pups in, put one side down and Cody would go in and out of it to nurse and care for her pups and then come back to see what we were doing....She was and still is the most NOSEY shepherd : ) She wanted to be right in the middle of it all.....and she was!! Her first litter I kept CHEYENNE and T-BONE......brother and sister......wow, they certainly changed our lives at the time and that is when everything changed......I placed the other puppies and that is how it began......Most of those puppies are gone now......CHEYENNE is still here at 11 years old working on 12 and is still one of the most INCREDIBLE dogs that I will ever know. She is so smart and caring, yet so intense and happy to work and play! T-Bone passed away not long ago.....dearly missed and so loved!! Cheyenne had a very hard time losing T-Bone and we almost thought Cheyenne wasn't going to make it from the hurt and grief.....she survived it and her and GIZMO are best buddies now....Cheyenne always liked being a Tom-boy type personality : ) So Cody's first litter was growing up and we had 2 litters almost at the same time the next year.....Cody and our Lab Dink had their puppies 10 days apart.....Cody had 11 puppies and Dink had 5!! Talk about funny and talk about puppies everywhere : ) It was truly a blessing and we of course were just amazed at them all.....still working on the house and trying to make it a HOME!! I have to THANK all of those who were our FIRST customers.......because of YOU and your love and dedication.......WE have made a better place for alot of puppies!! After hearing back from lots of people about how wonderful and healthy the puppies were turning out, we then decided to have another litter......and each year we continued to do so until now........Now....... With that short little look back in time, you may understand my heart at this point....CODY had been here for me through it all!! Through meeting Paren and the kids, to marrying Paren and the kids : ) and she has been there through all the work on the house and then at different points, all the changes we have made to the house!! Through the kids learning things and growing up to graduations and now to seeing them on short visits when they are in town. All three kids have grown up and moved away.....Cody also opened up her home to my Mom and her two dogs back in 2004. I had a house full of dogs then but Cody was the one who said, let them come in and stay! My Mom and her two dogs, Misty and Dakota moved right in and that was that....Cody and Bubba never blinked an eye and Bajah and Cree just went with the flow.....My Mom was and still is the most wonderful and incredible person to have graced my life.....Her and my Dad are both gone now......Cody again was there for me - My Mom was sick with Cancer and only having limited time with her was truly a heart wrenching experience.....but she shared so much with us in those short few months....another changing moment in my life and Cody was my ROCK again......... Cody has just been there for me.....PERIOD! I know alot of you reading this have had the same type of experience with your shepherd.....they come in all sorts of colors, sizes and personalities......Consider yourself one of the lucky ones!! Having a shepherd in your life has made you love and understand things much more : ) Cody really is getting tired......she has never once complained to me about anything : ) always happy with her life! Funny thing is - is that she thinks she had a great life.......but SHE is the one who made mine incredible : ) Looking back at her and her first few litters I remember being so strong and connected to HER! Even though Cody was never one of the prettiest shepherds around, she produced some of the most gorgeous puppies and adults for us. I would sometimes be asked if she were a shepherd/lab mix : ) even some folks thought she was a Lab!! Her one ear when she was young never really did stand up straight because of ME not because of her : ) My horse stepped on her when she was a puppy.....yep, a mistake that I made sure I told many people about in the years to come so they would not have to go through the same thing : ) But when people asked me these things, I just smiled and said, she is a German Shepherd! All Black and just wonderful....some folks said OK and purchased a puppy...others were not as impressed and did not......To them I say.......Too Bad For You.......you missed out on an experience of a lifetime : ) I have watched Cody grow from a lanky, ornery little black puppy to this wonderful strong and grounded best friend......it's been a road well traveled with lots of bumps and rocks! BUT........I honestly AM a BETTER PERSON because of Cody.....I am!! She has taught me and I would assume others so much : ) She is closing in on her last days here at the farm.........sadness covers my heart and in trying to let her go, I find myself trying harder to hang on.......tears roll from my eyes just writing these precious words......I hope that if you take nothing else away from reading this, that you atleast look back in your own life and remember a "special" dog who just may have changed your life : ) How I will say Good-Bye is unknown to me at this point. I know it is unstoppable. I know soon I will have to let her cross the Rainbow Bridge.....I suppose that she may even be anxious, to run and play with the others who have gone already, without pain or arthritis pulling her down. I suppose that is what should push my heart in the right direction and try to let her go. I suppose my time with her is short......but it's been the most perfect years of my life with her in it. She gave me HOPE when I thought all was hopeless......She gave me LOVE when I really didn't think love was possible, She gave me Freedom to be ME........without judgment, always seeming to be steady and strong, always doing that for ME! I hope that anyone who has had one of Cody's puppies has been blessed with love and joy in their life as we have been here!! All those who have one of her grandkids, great grandkids or even her great great grandkids........THANK YOU!! Thank you for sharing your life with them! I know not what to say to close this about Cody so I won't............I find myself afraid of the END with her......but when it happens, I will be sure to share it with you....Because of YOU, who believed in CODY way back then......we are here NOW, more blessed then ever - able to continue to share our love and devotion of THE GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG! Blessings!
This was sent to CODY from my
sister......who had been there through it all with me.....with Cody.......with
everything! Good Morning Cody,
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