R.I.P., Sage, 1995-2009

We laid Sage to rest in our backyard this afternoon at three o'clock.

I started the grave in the place Lisa and I had selected. That was where Sage spent a lot of time yesterday afternoon when she was very sick, but still wanted to watch the cats, squirrels and birds one last time. She knew her time was short.

Last evening I let her out to get sick again (she had been vomiting all day), and shortly thereafter went to check on her. She was lying on the ground, head up and apparently relatively comfortable. A little while later she had moved and was on her side, breathing heavily. I carried her in and Lisa fetched a blanket for her to lay on. Within a couple of hours she was gone. We wrapped her in the blanket that had become her shroud and left her on the floor at the end of our bed overnight.

Lisa's son Jacob helped me dig the grave today and we carried Sage out, in her shroud, together; one of us at each end. We laid her carefully in the ground with her head facing east, so she can still watch the cats and other wildlife.

After saying a few prayers in my head, I came back in and picked up her water and food dishes, stacked them and placed them neatly on a shelf in the laundry room.

The grave and headstones are easily visible from our bedroom and living room. Anytime we look out, there she is.

I don't even want to vacuum the carpet because her hair is all over it and that is all we have left now.