LIFE'S BETTER IN THE MOUNTAINS

Friday, June 20, 2014

Remembering Ellie



Tomorrow is the first day of summer.  It is also the anniversary of our dear Ellie's birthday.  We never celebrated dog birthdays except with a little extra attention.  Tomorrow we will mark the day with extra sweet memories of our wonderful dog.

Ellie was a joy from the first day we brought her home.  Playful and loving, she was also very eager to please.  Training her was very easy and she consistently followed commands.

From early on, she loved her stuffed animals.  Her favorite was a little yellow duck that she carried with her everywhere.  And then the most dreadful thing happened.  Ellie discovered a weak spot on a Christmas stuffie and found total delight in disemboweling the toy.  She systematically destroyed every single stuffie she owned.  Total disaster, but she had one heck of a time.



Six-month-old Ellie with her little yellow duck




 She loved the snow, so living her first years in Wisconsin was special to her.

Seven-month-old loving the snow.  She's looking at my husband, waiting for a release from her down/stay



 When we moved to the mountains of NC, Ellie forgot about the suburbs of WI and happily took to the mountain trails of Transylvania County.


Trail around Lake Ticoa here in our community


 Obviously, we have tons of photographs of our Ellie.  But the following one is my very favorite.  This side of the house that has the library, one of the guest bedrooms and baths, and my study is a dog-free area.  When Ellie decided I had been in my study too long, she would come and stand wordlessly at the hallway door.  Those gentle brown eyes would plead with me to come play with her.  And she almost always carried two tennis balls, much the way she carried the little yellow duck when she was a puppy.


I took this picture while I was sitting at my desk.
It was a scene that repeated itself almost every evening.


So while we still miss Ellie, and still grieve for her, we are so glad she was part of our lives for ten years.  She was the perfect dog...my heart dog and I smile as I remember all the good times with this magnificent dog, gone too soon.

Author Agnes Sligh Turnbull summed it up:

"Dogs' lives are too short.  Their only fault, really."

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERYONE.
ENJOY THE LONGEST DAY OF THE YEAR TOMORROW


 


13 comments:

wildcatwoods said...

A lovely tribute to Ellie. The quote is perfect too. Wishing you a wonderful Midsummer's Eve!

Carolina Mts

Carolina Linthead said...

Love...take care, sweet friend.

The Bug said...

Ellie & the tennis balls is just the most hilarious thing :)

troutbirder said...

Beautiful words for a special dog indeed....:)

Arkansas Patti said...

What lovely and quite live memories you have of that special dog. They never really leave us do they?

KB said...

You brought tears to my eyes, with the love flowing through your words. What a sweet, loving, and wonderful dog Ellie was. She was truly beautiful too, even with the goofy two balls in her mouth! That is a wonderful memory.

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

What a touching and beautiful tribute to your most beautiful and special girl. I don't think we ever get over missing them, but we both have those wonderful memories that can't be taken from us and they continue to live on in our hearts because we remember them. --And I've never had a Golden that could have 2 tennis balls in their mouth at once, that's Golden-talent at its best! :-)

Betsy Banks Adams said...

What a wonderful tribute to an incredible dog... I'm sure that Lucy misses Ellie even to this day since the two of them were so close... BUT--I also know how much you and your hubby loved/love those Goldens... I always enjoyed reading Fridays are Golden. Have you thought about getting another one? I know that that is also hard since you 'have' to be READY to get another Golden. When the time is right, you will know it. God Bless You.

Hugs,
Betsy

Cheryl said...

So darling, admit I have tears in my eyes reading it.

Ellie was a wonderful friend and companion......I love the image with the tennis balls, also in the snow, how proud she looks.

You must miss her very much............

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

So true, they lives are much too short. Ellie is a real doll and I know how much you must miss her. My only children were four-legged ones.

I hope you are having a lovely weekend and enjoying the sunshine.
Sam

Anonymous said...

Such a sweet and loving remembrance of your beautiful Ellie.

NCmountainwoman said...

Thanks for your comments, everyone. I know that many of you have lost heart dogs. And sweet memories stay with us.

Busy Bee Suz said...

Such sweet memories of your girl; brought tears to my eyes. Love that capture of her with the balls....the anxious look in her eyes saying: Please come out to play!!!
XO