Jesse 和 Susan 是我在瑞士认识的一对美国夫妇，我们曾同在一个德语班学习。 他们从美国带来了他们的狗Raven，一只非常可爱的爱斯基摩犬。 今年我过生日的时候，还特意邀请Raven和她的爸爸妈妈来参加我的生日Party。我非常喜欢Raven, 还曾经问过Jesse 我能否常去他们家和Raven一起玩，可惜的是我忙于别的事情，一直也没去成。 后来我转到intensive class去上课，Jesse他们也在今年8月离开瑞士回美国了， 我一直没能再见到Raven。没想到，今天收到Jesse的email，Raven已经不在人间了。我真的不敢相信这是真的，她才3岁，还在她人生最美好的时段。 我把Jesse的信贴在下面，以此纪念曾与我短暂邂逅的Raven。
Raven, 你也永远活在我的心里。
Hello Friends and Family,
Someof you knew our dog Raven very well, some of you have heard the storiesabout her and some may not know her at all. We were fortunate to haveshared some really great times with her but are sad that say that sheis no longer with us. She developed chronic kidney failure with anunknown cause. She was only recently diagnosed with it, although shehas likely compensated for her loss of kidney function for quite sometime. In grieving her loss, it consoles us some to know that she hadsuch a great life of fun and adventure with us. We have written a shortsummary of her life (below) and created a short photo slideshow of ourlife with her for those who are interested in seeing who she was andwhat she meant to us. http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Please don't feel obligated to watch and/or respond.
Thank you all for your love and support.
In Memory of Raven, 7/7/06- 9/25/09.
Sometimes you don’tfind a new pet, they find you. During the process of mourning ourprevious dog, Forest, we found out about “Scary Sherry”, a7-month old Husky mix in need of a home. She was born in La Grange,Maine from a Siberian Husky sled dog mother and an unknownneighborhood father and had 9 siblings, all of whom had moved on toother homes and fates. She was one of many unworked sled dogs whowere tied to chains in the yard of the mobile home of their owner.Susan picked her up one cold February day in 2007 with the intentionof bringing her to a shelter from which some of her siblings havebeen placed. She barked and barked and wouldn’t let Susan approachher. When Susan tried to take her to the car she pulled Susan overand she fell and hit her head. Sherry shook all the way home in thecar. She was way out of the comfort zone of the small circle she wasaccustomed to.
Jesse returned home from an out-of-town work trip withan impending snowstorm to find Susan and Sherry there. The next daywas Valentine’s Day and the snowstorm prevented transport to theshelter. When Jesse returned from work that day Sherry was wearing ared bow. She never went to the shelter. We named her Raven for herbeautiful black coat and mischievous energy and spirit. In NativeAmerican mythology the raven is a creature of metamorphosis, andsymbolizes change and transformation. Raven had only just begun hertransformation.
Over the next several months shelearned about living in houses, that new people were not to befeared, that the ocean in Maine is very cold in February, that thereis whole big world out there to explore and that the back of thecouch is a good place from which to watch the world go by when youare not outside exploring. She grew from an insecure scared littlepuppy into a strong, self-assured, friendly and loving young dog. Herenergy and enthusiasm were boundless and she made us laugh a lot withher silliness. She became fully integrated into our lives and helpedto celebrate our wedding in October as a ring bearer. Her life wasalready so full of adventure and there was still so much to come.
In December we moved from Maine andRaven spent time with Jesse’s family in Massachusetts while wetravelled in Patagonia. She temporarily lost her pack but gained anew set of caregivers and a regular doggie playmate. When we returnedwe flew her to Switzerland where a new set of challenges awaited allof us for the next year and a half. Raven learned about trains,buses, cablecars and many things Swiss. She no longer feared newsituations and was open to every new experience. She skied, hiked,stayed in mountain huts, and slept under the stars with us. Sheexplored glaciers, mountains, lakes, gorges and discovered newanimals to chase when given the opportunity. She had come a long wayfrom her trailer home roots in rural Maine to living in the heart ofEurope.
Raven was the silliest, most lovingdog, and so full of life. She made us laugh on a regular basis,whether it was her yogi pretzel poses, cleaning our feet first thingin the morning, giving us a talking to like only a husky can, sittingon the couch like a proper lady, or prancing down the trail with herbuns sashaying back and forth. Raven brought endless joy to our homeand made us truly feel like a little family.
We left Switzerland at the end ofAugust and were looking forward to settling down in Washington andbeginning a new life together. Over the summer we had noticed thatRaven had lost some weight and wasn’t as peppy as usual, but ourSwiss vet told us she was fine, and we attributed the changes to herturning the ripe age of three and the summer heat. When we arrivedin Washington she seemed lethargic, but at first we thought it wasthe flight and the transition. We took her to the vet, and weredevastated to find out our girl had developed chronic kidney disease(unusual for such a young dog). Her health deteriorated veryquickly over the last two weeks, and we reached the point where weknew it was time to say goodbye. We miss our Raven dearly, and aredeeply saddened that the time we had together was so much shorterthan what we had hoped for. We are so thankful that we could shareher life with her, and are consoled to know that she lived a lifefull of love and adventure. We miss you Ravey-bug; you live on inour hearts.
Jesse and Susan
September 26, 2009
