Family History

Codie

Last night it rained real hard and there were flashes of lightning. I sleep on the floor next to mom, so I knew she was awake a lot. She was thinking about Codie.

I don’t know all the details but our family history goes back to 1978 when she got Jesse, a black and white Australian Shepherd. He was a reject like me. His father and grandfather were the same dog, so he was like some kind of accident.

Mom raised Jess by herself and they had this incredible bond. Jesse passed in 1993. I heard mom cried a bucket of tears. Then a lady from a rescue group called and said she had an Aussie puppy that needed a home.

Mom said it was too soon, but she went to see the pup anyway. That pup was Codie. Mom always said Codie came to mend a broken heart. It’s hard to be sad with one of us little mutts chewing on your nose.

There’s so much to tell about Codie, but right now I’m trying to explain how everybody fits in the family. Codie needed a home and mom needed Codie, so Codie joined our family. Everybody loved Codie. She was a princess.

When Codie got up in years, mom asked her if she would help raise a puppy. Codie reluctantly agreed. Codie was thirteen when I joined the family in 2006. She was not at all pleased to see me. The first thing she did was nip me to put me in my place.

But true to her word, Codie did help raise me and I owe what few manners I have to her instruction. You probably guessed already that we don’t have Codie anymore. That’s why mom was thinking about her last night and woke up sad. I was there the night that Codie left us. It’s something you never get over.

Codie told me lots of things while she was still here. She said it’s up to me to speak for her and pass on her last thoughts. I promised Codie I would do that after she had been gone a year. That time is approaching. I will keep my word. I will tell more of Codie soon. But for now, I gotta run.