The Ballad of Winchester A.

It’s taken a few days to get to where I can write this. I know that once I do, and I let N read it, it will be even more final than it is. When you’re a grown up losing a pet isn’t easy, but when you’re 11 and he’s your best friend it’s life altering.

And Sunday was life altering.

Winchester Bullet Hunter Speed-Shock Abernathy was only in our lives for a few months but the impact he had on all of us will carry on forever. He was a stray Beagle/Basset Hound mix that I found on a back road and a young man fell in love with. He was the best squirrel hunting partner, loved going along on horseback rides, and when he fell asleep, he slept so hard that you could almost not wake him. Especially if he was curled up in N’s arms and under the blanket. Where he liked to sleep the best.

Unfortunately, he had to leave us to cross the rainbow bridge. Whether the universe took him because an angel babe needed comforting or some other reason— we will never know.  A neighbor was driving entirely too fast and hit him. Thankfully it was quick and there was no suffering.

The house has been all to still without him here. Without his whimpering when N goes to school and his perching on my chair watching for him to get home. He’s no longer curled up on my bed groaning when he moves in his sleep or yipping in his dreams like he tree’d the biggest grey squirrel you’ve ever seen. 

© Charlotte Hertlein 2020

Now he’s buried next to our other family dog that we had to put down three years ago. Maybe that’s another blessing. Living in a place where we can bury the family dog under a beautiful tree and go visit him frequently. Where N can sit and read, like he did so many times with him while he was alive.

© Charlotte Hertlein 2020

Tonight, the kids will make him a headstone, made of wood and paint. We’ll place it where we laid him to rest, where they can sit and visit and where N plans to leave offerings asking the Gods to keep him safe until they meet again.

© Charlotte Hertlein 2020