Tuesday 7 March 2023

For all the dogs of our lives

 

For all the dogs of our lives

Frodo the Faller

When the American playwright, Eugene O’Neill, and his third wife lived in Paris in the 1930s, they had a Dalmatian called Blemie (Silverdene Emblem) He travelled to the USA with them, eventually dying on 17th December, 1940. His headstone reads, ‘Sleep in peace, faithful friend.’ 

O’Neill wrote ‘The Last Will and Testament of an Extremely Distinguished Dog’ a few days later and his words will resonate with anyone who has ever loved and lost a dog. The following extracts contain the essence of the whole document.

‘There is nothing of value I have to bequeath except my love and my faith. These I leave to all those who have loved me. I ask my Master and Mistress to remember me always, but not to grieve for me too long. 

One last request I earnestly make. Now I ask, for love of me, to have another. It would be a poor tribute to my memory never to have a dog again.’

The will in its entirety can be found here.

Gus, Bertie and Jenna
Jenna

Frodo the Faller
Fetch! (and try not to fall over)

15 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Blemie's Last Will and Testament is a beautifully felt piece of writing. I was so fond of my first dog, Hamish the Westie, that when he was alive I always imagined it would be impossible to have another dog. Then when he died, aged 14 but rather suddenly, within a few days I was desperately searching for a puppy, which turned out to be Bouncing Bertie. Dear Bertie suffered a long slow demise (bladder cancer) and I had plenty of time to line up his successor, Nobby, to ease the pain of the loss.
    Cheers, Gail.

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  3. We had one dog, but she is still with us, otherwise we had 8 cats over the years all passed away after 10 - 20 years. The last one was Arthur the unique, he died 3 years ago on the 6th March. He just fell asleep. I could never forget one of them. They all were part of our life.

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    1. They add to our lives in countless ways.

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  4. It is both a sad and yet uplifting poem. After our last dog died we told ourselves we just couldn't go through the grief again, and partly for other reasons, we haven't.

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  5. I can count the number of dogs I've had on one hand. And the first was technically the family dog. The cats require two hands but there are still fingers left over.

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  6. Still room for more, then, to complete the hands!

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  7. F only ever had working dogs, but understands how they capture your heart with their devotion and hard work.

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    1. Working dogs are extra special - all that intelligence being put to good use.

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  8. So beautifully written. Sharing this with my daughter.

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  9. Well, he was a playwright!

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  10. It is a worthwhile reminder, but it made me cry. I don't know if I'll have any more cats after my two are gone. Maybe a senior cat, so hopefully he or she does not outlive me and need to find a new home.

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  11. It made me cry, too. It's a hard decision to make, to have new pets or not. They're never replacements but the love has to go somewhere.

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