ANGEL'S STORY
A note from Frances Martin, of OKLAHOMA AIREDALE TERRIER RESCUE: In January 2007, Tulsa was hit with a major ice storm. It started early on a Friday morning and soon there was ice everywhere. Travel was hazardous and events were canceled throughout the city. On the following Monday morning, I got a call from a local vet clinic saying that they had a stray Airedale. Someone had tied her to a dumpster during the ice storm. Thankfully, a vet tech found her and took her to the nearby clinic where she worked. One of our wonderful Oklahoma volunteers, Jennifer, braved the slick roads to pick up this Airedale who had been discarded during a winter storm. Our new girl was actually an old girl whom we named Angel, since she was such an angel during her horrible ordeal. It was estimated that Angel was 7-10 years old; she had a malignant tumor on her front foot that was promptly and successfully removed. I fostered Angel for a couple of months until she was placed in a loving home. I dropped her off, leaving with a heavy heart, knowing that I would miss this old girl who was so easy to love. As luck (for me) would have it, Angel was returned because her family could no longer care for her. It didn't take me long to decide that I needed to keep Angel girl with me because I love her bossy-britches attitude, funny ears, gray face, stiff-legged romps in the back yard, and early bedtime. I don't know how much time she has left, but that doesn't matter. Angel has enriched my life, as have all the other Airedales whom I have loved, either as my own or as fosters.
OLD DOG Darling, the hesitation in your step makes my heart ache, knowing that you're wondering, hoping, is this the last home? will I have to move again? how will she know who I am? Beautiful, I see your history in your eyes and in those small quirks, in your startles and starts. oh, I know I'll never know the whole story of you but together we can patch things up, heal old wounds, soothe old fears. Beloved, I respect your years, and I promise you will grow old with me in comfort, in love, in safety. and when your years are done, I will see you through your passing, and keep you close in my arms, in my heart. You will live forever. T. Nesbit, in Memory of Duchess Claire June 2001

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