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Glamour Shot |
Background: From
the moment I saw Norman’s eyes on the Rescue site 12 years ago, I KNEW he and I
were meant to be together. (I had a similar feeling when I met Mike, ‘Doc’,
34 years ago).
When
Doc and I went to the shelter to meet this Dachsy / Chihuhua mix, the staff was
hesitant to adopt him out because of his attitude and previous negative
experiences at the hands of humans.
Norman was intelligent,
demanding, curious, handsome, stubborn, a devil, an angel, charming, caring,
and dozens of other superlatives. He
insisted that things were done HIS WAY!
Today Norman did things HIS WAY ….
***********
Most of you reading either Penny
Tales or Tales from the Penny Palace
have met Stormin’ Norman or at least read about him.
Do you remember the
Tale in December 2013 when his eyeball was pulled out, but then had a miraculous healing and totally re-gained his eyesight?
Norman was a canine with attitude! He knew he was more intelligent than any
human. He allowed us to live with him
these past 12 years and filled our lives with such JOY and challenges.
(Like when he snuggled into the basket of
clean warm laundry).
This afternoon at approximately
1:10 p.m. Norman went to Heaven.
***********
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Kidz Kamp |
For the past five days Norman’s
Cousins (our nieces and nephews) have been staying here at the Penny Palace for
the annual “Kidz Kamp”. Norman was able
to wag his tail and smile at them. He
sure enjoyed watching all the activities of the Kamp and being part of the
happiness.
***********
It had been quite a struggle for
Norman these past two months as his heart slowly shut down and his lungs and
abdomen filled with fluids. Last week he
had refused to take his medicines or eat on his own.
Today around 11 a.m. we took Norman
to the vet because he had not pooped these past five days and his abdomen was
swelling. The vet prescribed more medications. A
re-check appointment was scheduled for Monday.
As we drove home with Norman in my
arms, I “centsed” something had changed. His gaze was getting further away. I just held and stroked him.
***********
When we got home, Doc carried
Norman on his pillow and laid him down in the plush shaded grassy area near the
mailbox out front. Doc went in the house
for a few minutes. Norman was laying
peacefully on the grass and I was beside him thanking him for so many wonderful
memories.
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Is Sparky Calling me now? |
Suddenly
Norman’s looked up. His eyes were alert
and his tail began wagging with a Super Happy Enthusiasm! I was not expecting that. My heart was filled with Joy at that
moment. He smiled as I stroked
him. I asked him if he was seeing Angels?
He looked
so happy!
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Adoption Day, January 2003 |
I asked
Norman if maybe he was seeing his brother Sparky? (*)
Note (*) Sparky and Norman were adopted from the
rescue shelter together in 2003. Sparky
was the “Angel” which helped counter balance Norman, the “Devil”. Sparky passed away 17 months ago.
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THANK YOU Norman |
Norman’s
tail wagged with such a happy intensity I could not believe what I was seeing! I was actually laughing and asking Norman
what was making him so happy?!?!? I
shouted for Doc to come out and share that moment. Doc came out and laid down in the grass with
Norman and me. We stroked and spoke
softly to Norman. We thanked him over and
over for his years of companionship. We
caressed him as he took his final breaths. We thanked him for choosing to come
home today to spend his last moments at the Penny Palace. (**)
Note
(**) Norman spent 11-12 years of his
life helping to design, build, inspect, then “test” our dream house. How appropriate that he should choose to
depart from here.
***********
After returning to the vet clinic to
finalize things, Doc and I went Penny Finding.
We could NOT let the coin Finding Streak end today. Norman would not like that. Tears were streaming down our cheeks as we
searched for a coin.
I
asked the Penny Angels to provide an appropriate coin to honor Norman. They provided just one coin today. The coin was a penny. (Which in this case was more appropriate than
any silver coin). The penny was very
shiny and minted with 2015 D. Doc says
the D is for “Dog” and the 2015 of course is the year of Norman’s passing. To me, the shiny new penny represents the
shiny new body which Norman now has in heaven.
***********
In reflecting over these past few weeks, we are
so very grateful to Norman for his timing of when to leave. He did
not leave while we were out of state on travel last month. He did not depart while the Kidz were here
this week and he seemed to have had a really great time with them at Kamp.
Doc looks at numbers. He is looking at the solar insolation graph
generated today and saying, “There was cloud cover all morning with readings of
less than 2 KW. At the time of Norman’s
crossing, the sun came out and solar readings more than doubled!” I
guess heaven must have been opening its doors to welcome Norman. J
Norman chose today where we had zero appointments scheduled, essentially no
emails coming in, and Doc and I were both present. We could devote the entire morning and afternoon
to Norman, then spend the evening grieving.
There are no commitments tomorrow (so we can stay home and deal with the
pain). Norman was incredibly intuitive.
As usual, Norman did things HIS WAY!
***********
Here are a few additional photos just for fun.
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Thank You for Adopting Us! |
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Christmas Joy |
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This game is supposed to be difficult?
Under 2 minutes on my first attempt! |
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Pancake Breakfast with Friends
Peanut and Cashew (fellow Rescuee)
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Always Investigating |
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Nap Time!
(Centerfold for Dog's Quarterly?) |