Dear Readers,
I thought you might enjoy this note I received from Reverend Riki Renfro, a member of my Holistic Mindbody Healing website who purchased the kindle version of Rescue Me. In this note, Riki shares a delightful story of Mom Lelah and her pomeranian Polly, and the fitting Mom and Dog Memorial given them. And how cute is that photo! 🙂
Hi Val,
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you; it’s been a busy summer. I finally had time to complete the book and enjoyed every bit of it.
One of the things on our long list of “to do’s” was to complete my mother’s memorial service. Based on her pre-death instructions, we took her ashes to a local lake where my brother died seven years ago. My father’s ashes were also put into the lake a few years ago.
Since her little Pomeranian, Polly, died a week after Mom died, we mixed their ashes together and put them into the water together after sharing stories and memories of the two of them. Polly was with Mom her last 16 years and was unquestionably the love of her life. To be honest, I was probably the favorite (and youngest) of Mom’s three children, but Polly quickly surpassed my standing as “favorite kid”.
Mom was 96 when she died and I know it was having the love of this little puff-ball that contributed to her longevity and gave her a purpose for waking up every morning. Mom also attributed her longevity to the nightly martini she had. Polly didn’t care for gin, but she loved the green olives more than any doggy treat. Mom would put 5 green olives into her drink: one she ate, the other four were Polly’s.
As we dispersed the ashes we also poured a fifth of Mom’s favorite gin into the water for her and a bottle of green olives for Polly. It certainly was not your conventional funeral service, but was definitely a fitting and meaningful ceremony for all of us.
There definitely is a reason why DOG spelled backwards is GOD. Thank you for a lovely book. I’ll look forward to more in the future.
Rev. Riki Renfro
Peaceworks Universal Life Church
Shared with permission.
Mom and Dog Memorial