Goodbye, Penny-Lane

My friend Caroline has a delightful pup named Paxton. He and Monty love to race down the beaches at Cape Cod or sniff things in Sonoma. Paxton's best friend was Penny-Lane, the runt of her litter, the essence of the energy and love of a rowdy 1.5-yr-old Cavalier distilled into a 2/3 scale copper body. They would spend hours exhausting one another every day. 

Friday, I called Caroline to ask if she was going to Yappy Hour, an informal end-week event at the local dog park. Monty, Paxton, and Penny-Lane raced about with a dozen other dogs, made friends, sniffed butts, got cuddled, (here is Penny-Lane in my lap)

and generally had a wonderful time while the humans chatted and laughed and petted dogs. Penny-Lane practically went into paroxysms of excitement at the ball being tossed by another owner and raced after it while Paxton tried to cut her off. 

We parted ways and Monty and I walked home, only to get a call that Penny-Lane was in serious condition and another ten minutes later saying she had died.... and a while later to ask if I could help with the goodbye.

Today, with the agreement of my brother and mom, we (Ellen (Penny-Lane's beloved human), Caroline, my mom, and I) buried her near a fig tree just NE of the house. We spent a couple hours talking about her, dogs in general, love, and life.

Penny-lane: all lives are brief and end, the only questions I have are whether you enjoyed life and whether the world is better for you having been here. On both of these I think we can answer with a resounding “YES!”. Penny-Lane, we will miss you and cherish your memory. Thank you for bringing your joy to our lives.