Hunter, ten years on, runs with Cree, two years gone.

Photo copyright Wings, 2019; all rights reserved.

At just before four-thirty this afternoon, it'll be a full decade since we lost our baby girl in the photo. Hunter was pure love, and it broke my heart that we could not be there when she slipped away. She was, thankfully, held on the lap and in the arms of a wonderful vet and vet tech. We had spent one of the worst Valentine's Days of our lives down in Santa Fe at the doggy ICU, and three days later, we had no choice but to let her get free from the pain.

Hunter adopted me on sight and refused to let me go. Even now, she has the same solid hold on my heart. And at the appointed time, I'll take some tobacco to where her ashes are scattered.

I'll do the same for her much bigger sister, whose departure, to my great grief and shame, I forgot two days ago. 

Photo copyright Wings, 2019; all rights reserved.

Cree left us on February fifteenth two years ago, just before dark, after a long and valiant fight against the founder that, in any other time and any other horse, would've claimed her life a full ten years before that. That's her in the foreground, the Indian paint horse, with her daughter, Shade, behind her — in happier times, before the tumors that took both their lives made themselves known. We lost Shade last July, and she is with her mother again, now among the stars. Like the other dogs, Hunter, ten years on, runs with Cree, two years gone.

And the rifts in my heart will never be healed.

We love you Hunter. We love you, Cree. Your spirits run free in our hearts.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2019; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.