{"id":13750,"date":"2022-07-16T14:02:30","date_gmt":"2022-07-16T18:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=13750"},"modified":"2022-07-16T14:04:08","modified_gmt":"2022-07-16T18:04:08","slug":"remembering-darby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=13750","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Darby"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Some years back, after I had acquired a new puppy, my mother, who was decidedly not a dog lover, asked me why I would want to learn to love something that was almost certainly going to predecease me.\u00a0 I pointed out that I loved her, and she too most probably would predecease me, which she did.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0I am telling you this as a preamble to the actual topic of this article.\u00a0 I did not listen to my mother then, and I did not listen12.5 years ago when we became the proud owner of a female Golden Retriever named Darby.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Darby left us about 1:00 a.m. this morning on July 16th<\/sup>, 2022.\u00a0 She was a kind and gentle dog and without any doubt extremely faithful.\u00a0 She rarely barked, but when she did one would sit up and take notice.\u00a0 She was a thief by nature and spent most of her early years stealing anything she could get her mouth around.\u00a0 I spent countless hours in the back yard searching for missing socks and shoes.\u00a0 She rarely would chew these items, she just like stealing them.\u00a0 I think her most atrocious act of thievery was when she stole and destroyed my city issued Blackberry<\/a>.\u00a0 \u00a0That did, however, have a positive outcome as the device was replaced with my first Android smart phone.\u00a0 That at a time when only the cool kids had smart phones.<\/p>\n

Darby was quiet and timid and was only afraid of three things: thunderstorms, firecrackers, and everything else.\u00a0 She woke me up many times during the night to inform me that there was a thunderstorm, and I could tell by the pleading look she gave me that she wanted me to make it stop.\u00a0 Of course, eventually I would always make it stop, or at least I think that was her assumption. But it was comforting to me to know that she had that much faith in me that I could control the weather.<\/p>\n

Darby was not the first dog I have lost to death.\u00a0 There have been quite a few before her as I have always had a K-9 companion at my side since I was a small boy. I just cannot imagine life without a dog.\u00a0 Fortunately, I still have another furry friend, Pepper, who is another story.\u00a0 Hopefully Pepper will be around for several more years, but I do not want to think about that right now.\u00a0 I have been informed that \u201cthere will be no more dogs\u201d after he is gone.\u00a0 I can only say to that, \u201cwe shall see\u201d.<\/p>\n

Darby is the most recent in a long list of friends I have lost, most notably, but not all inclusive, were Libbi<\/a>, Yittle, Blacki, and Schatzie.\u00a0 They all, I am sure, will be waiting on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge when my time comes to cross.\u00a0 I look forward to seeing them all again.\u00a0 \u00a0Darby was a good companion, a great friend, and she brought a lot of love and joy into our lives.\u00a0 She will truly be missed.\u00a0 And that, Mom, is why.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some years back, after I had acquired a new puppy, my mother, who was decidedly not a dog lover, asked me why I would want to learn to love something that was almost certainly going […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_daextrevo_audio_file_creation_date":"","_daextrevo_text_to_speech":"","_daextrevo_document_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dog-stories"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Darby.jpg?fit=355%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11588,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=11588","url_meta":{"origin":13750,"position":0},"title":"My Dog Ate My Blackberry","author":"Tom Lind","date":"April 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night as I prepared to go to bed, I was unable to locate my Blackberry. It sits on my nightstand every night because it doubles as my alarm clock, and it puts me to sleep because I like to listen to thunderstorms on my headphone as I drift off.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Dog Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Dog Stories","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"20140930_130148_Android","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/20140930_130148_Android-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14061,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=14061","url_meta":{"origin":13750,"position":1},"title":"On Cats","author":"Tom Lind","date":"December 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"As many of you know who have read my dog eulogies, I am , and have been most of my life, a dog person.\u00a0 I have told you the story of Libbi and Darby and Pepper, now all gone from us.\u00a0 At this point I am not sure if there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Dogs and Cats"","block_context":{"text":"Dogs and Cats","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=261"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_0436-150x150.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13942,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=13942","url_meta":{"origin":13750,"position":2},"title":"Goodbye Pepper!","author":"Tom Lind","date":"May 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Since I began publishing this blog in 2010 I have had the sad duty of writing\u00a0 a memorial for two of my dogs who crossed the rainbow bridge.\u00a0 First was Libbi in January of 2013 and most recently was Darby in July of 2022.\u00a0 It is now my sad duty\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Dog Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Dog Stories","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Pepper_now-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":341,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=341","url_meta":{"origin":13750,"position":3},"title":"Eulogy For Libbi","author":"Tom Lind","date":"January 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I receive the call I had been expecting, but was totally unprepared for when it came. My wife called to tell my our 17-year-old blond Pomeranian had died. I knew it was coming, she had grown very feeble of late. She spent most of her time sleeping, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"2013-01-11 20.46.00","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/2013-01-11-20.46.00-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12197,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=12197","url_meta":{"origin":13750,"position":4},"title":"An Alligator Named Charlie","author":"Tom Lind","date":"January 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was a boy, I had a pet, an alligator named Charlie. I only had Charlie for a brief period, perhaps a month or two. My Mother and I had philosophical differences on the keeping of an alligator as a pet, and more specifically, where I housed said alligator.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nostalgia"","block_context":{"text":"Nostalgia","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=20"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Everglades_National_Park_cypress.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Everglades_National_Park_cypress.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Everglades_National_Park_cypress.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Everglades_National_Park_cypress.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":45,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=45","url_meta":{"origin":13750,"position":5},"title":"Friday Night At The “Rec”","author":"Tom Lind","date":"July 21, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was young, Friday nights were \"canteen\" night at the Mt. 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