Post by muskyhusky on Oct 17, 2008 12:31:18 GMT -6
It was September sometime 1993,I had moved home to Sisseton,S.D. I'd come in search of stability and strength, during the time of my impending divorce. I was working at our Tribal School as a cook and counselor, when on break one day after lunch, I stepped outside to catch a breath of fresh air and unwind, Staring at the trees across a wide field,appeared a most beautiful creature indeed running along side an obviously purebred B/W Husky, The only word that could come to mind was Wolf. She was a magnificent Hybrid and I fell in love instantly. She gave birth a couple months later to Pups from that same Husky, They were beautiful, I fell for a B/W one with blue eyes and full mask....But by the time they were old enough to let go, The owner had them all sold. I missed out.Till one night soon after I drove by the house simply to admire his beautiful companions, when I saw The Owner sitting on his front porch cradling an obviously sick puppy, returned to him by children who found her laying in a near by creek bed trying to find her way back home after being sadly neglected by the person who had adopted her,(God had picked his time,I walked over and asked if there was anything I could do, He just looked at me and the nearly unconcious puppy in his lap and simply said in a quiet whisper, I don't have the time for this, at which time I offered to help even offering to bring the puppy back if it should re cover, he in turn looked at me and said again simply, If you could save her, She's yours.
Thus came Spirit My Guardian Angel, my Companion,my Teacher, my Best Friend.
It was late when I got her home, where I laid her on my kitchen table and found her to be infested with woodticks of all sizes.over six hundred on a 6 week old puppy. For three days/nights and many seizures.I pulled woodticks off her skinny, depleted body,offering her water from my fingers which she wouldn't take on her own, after the third night while sitting by her box on my backsteps, I prayed crying while I did so,and in my prayers I spoke to both God and her offering to always love and care for her, if she would only find the Spirit to survive. Moments later she crawled out of her box and began lapping up water on her own. She trained herself to be housebroken,after having had only one accident.
She grew and became strong.
She taught me how to communicate by watching and listening with both my heart as well as my ears,and in a language comprised of looks,expressions,stance,nudges,little barks and whines and gentle Woo,Woo, Woo,Wooos. We learned how to talk,thus becoming Inseparable.We lived in the middle of No where in an area of South Dakota with nothing but farmland, fields and rolling endless hills dotted with clumps of trees for as far as the eye could see, She ran,she loved to run, often times hunting,as she only hunted wildgame muskrats, raccoon and once a beaver even, from one of our many slews respecting domestic animals as other peoples belongings,from learning to respect the other pets I had at this time, If it made it into the house and my arms it was safe and thus forth accepted as something worthy of her protection. In her I saw both Dog and Wolf, she was a dog until crossing over that invisible border of town that she only knew, and then the transformation would take place and she would become streamlined and fast, nose and ears taking in every smell and sound, she became a creature most magnificent gliding across the ground as though her feet never touched the earth beneath her,like something out of National Geographic in all four seasons. Very protective,yet very playful and gentle..She loved to visit often times if let loose she would visit our little one horse town getting treats from store owners and businesses,playing with children in their yards before returning home for dinner,a gentle word and a rub down, everyone knew her and everyone loved her, She was Spirit.
Ooooh The stories are many from the time as a puppy soon after her arrival, I was visiting my sons in Minnesota and took her with us on a picnic, when what should also appear was a Big Rottwieller which with no fear she proceeded to chase him off by nipping and growling at him from his underbelly, A brave puppy of only about 9 weeks. To the time while walking thru some high weeds, She dove at something directly in front of me and made her first kill An enormous Muskrat that I would have surely stepped on in my next step, standing over it ,looking down at it teeth bared front legs splayed, it was hers and hers alone. I watched her in Awe running thru fields, flushing out everything in her path from Deer to Fox, Weasel and Raccoon, She loved to run. She carried me thru most possibly The worst time of my life, A time I am most grateful to be thru and pray I never see again, A divorce and separation from my wife and children,My only and first real family. A trumped up sexual abuse charge that took about 3 yrs of courts,appeals and thousands of dollars to get thru to the truth and my innocence, The death of my mother, who took her last breath in my arms with a smile ( we'd been separeted through adoption for 18 yrs)and a car accident one winter visiting my kids and friends for Christmas in Minnesota, I slid on a patch of black ice and spun thru The guardrail.Totalling the car my only car.She nurtured and loved me when I had my gall bladder removed and for a couple days could hardly move,where she would nudge and support me whining at my obvious pain, When in deep depressions and praying for death feeling alone and lost in the world she'd nuzzled me whining and talking to me while always watching over me, protecting me from myself.many times keeping me going because I couldn't leave her alone.
She was my Guardian Angel
Thru 4 years of blackness and despair.
She was there and stuck by me through,thick and thin, When I lost faith in God, burying my pipe,my staff, my Sundance regalia, my feathers,and My God,and thought myself all alone in a very large bleak world. After my accident, No vehicle, lost my job, too far, dead of winter, 60 below zero wind chill, She would encourage me by hunting and bringing home game often times offering it to me, which led me to fight even harder to survive,Her Spirit continued to pull me thru,I loved her dearly as she loved me, 4 years after my divorce I reunited with my Ex wife on a quest to help my then 13 yr old stepson, thru the throws of serious alcohol, violence and drug addiction, who now at 19 approaching 20,recently moved into his own place in North Dakota with his girlfriend and her baby boy for which he's adopting, while attending college with only a year to go for his degree in computer science, sober, gentle, compassionate,loving,caring and happy a true young man having gained my utmost pride, respect and admiration, My Son,or as he proclaims "a chip off the ole block" grateful to have been the object of our eventual remarriage. Six months after reuniting and getting a home together again,five months after this picture( This only Picture)was taken February 1999, She died,after discovering anti freeze one morning when the kids accidently let her out while I was still asleep, In her last throws of life she could only think towards reaching me, dragging herself across the ground in heart wrenching pain and seizures and having me cradle her as she took her last heartbreaking breath in my arms, where big as I am, I couldn't hold back from crying like a baby, My best friend was leaving me and there was nothing I could do to stop her, or take away her pain, A piece of my heart left me that day.
"God sent her to me to watch over me while I was separated from my family my wife and children and took her back when they returned."
I Buried her, My Heart,My Companion, My Teacher, My Best Friend.wrapped in a Pendlton blanket high up on a hill overlooking Roosevelt Lake 30 minutes from our home...where she could run forever free.
She showed me that there is a distinct difference between Hybrids and dogs for she had the Spirit, That could come only from The direct decendant of that most magnificent, indominable and noble creature The Wolf, May she forever run free-as she so often does in my heart. She is the main reason, I love hybrids-and my new found love for Wanagi (Ghost)and Waniyetu Ska ( White Winter) Wanagi in turn had to work to win my heart as I was forever looking for Spirit in her Demeanor, Wanagi taught me The error of my ways, Spirit was Alpha and thus forth Independant,Hunting for days at a time able to survive on her own if it was ever needed,Wanagi on the other hand,is anything but Alpha preferring to be a big lap puppy to hunting anyday (though she's already dug out her first gopher, Spirit loved people, Wanagi is shy in her behavior around people she doesn't know, Spirit was aloof in her behaviors even to me, choosing the moments she wanted to be affectionate., Wanagi craves affection and play all the time, Spirit would run for miles around me while we were out staying close to me only when she sensed something she didn't like, her need to protect me, Wanagi wont let me leave her sight, Spirit looked more Husky than Wolf, Wanagi in spite of her 1 blue eye tends to look more Wolf than Husky, Spirit won me over for being Spirit as Wanagi stole my heart for being Wanagi and Waniyetu (still partly feral) is winning my heart for her own magnificent traits and efforts at trying to find her place in my heart and home, Three totally different personalities and one Indominable Spirit that can only come from their wondrous and mysterious ancestor, The Wolf. Angels sent to only those of us who are sensitive and spiritual enough to hear their voice and heed their unconditional love, leaving us only when they've served their purpose in our hearts and lives to go and prepare a home for us in the great beyond where they will run forever wild, forever free waiting the day of our arrival , that we may run together, forever loved.
Unconditionally. She taught and gave me what I promised her . Unconditional Love in a way that only a Wolf can do... She will forever run through my memories and my heart till such a time we can reunite and run free together forever! MitaKuyeOyasin! Thank-you (PidaMaya) for hearing my humble and yet loving story, for Spirit lives in my heart and memories till such that time we can be reunited forever in Love and Friendship.I'll Always Love You Baby,Always & Forever, As I can feel you even now,choking up as I type,your undying love, Thank-you Baby for having come into my life as you did at a time you were most needed.We'll be back together soon enough in Gods time, just be patient and know I will never stop loving you, ever,tok'sa ake! (till our paths cross again].
