PEGGY'S STORY

A note from Jann Rogers, of NWAR NORTHWEST AIREDALE RESCUE: Thanks for making this a special day for me. Telling Peggy's story just fills my heart. There are so many Peggies out there. Every rescue has a story and every senior rescue has a very special story to tell. Peggy's owner (in her 80's) was killed in an automobile accident. Luckily Peggy (then Peppy) was not in the car. Three weeks prior to the accident, I had met the owner (Netta) at a dental office waiting room. I left her a rescue brochure after our chat. We had talked Airedale and I wanted her to have my phone number in case she wanted to continue to chat about Airedales. Netta's daughter, Stephanie, was finally found three days after her mother's death (she is a flight attendant). Stephanie rushed out to her mother's home and found Peppy & her c*t friend surviving alone in the home. ON THE TABLE was my bright yellow rescue brochure. Stephanie took the brochure and later called me thinking we would not take in an almost-14-year-old dog, and asked if there was anything we could do for Peppy. She didn't want to put her down but couldn't take her either. She was shocked when I said that we would be happy to help. My mom & I drove out to the kennel where Stephanie had taken Peppy and picked up this sad, frumpy girl with bedroom-slipper feet. Peppy blossomed with us, and you know the rest of the story. She wasn't exactly Peppy anymore, so we renamed her Peggy. Stephanie & I both got goose bumps thinking about the timeliness of my chance encounter with Netta and the rescue brochure. To make it a little bit stranger, Stephanie said she was shocked her mother chose to talk with me that day in the dental office in that she had some paranoid tendencies and rarely talked with strangers. Some things happen for a reason . . . . Peggy is on the left; Tori on the right On our daily walks, Peggy taught me to slow down and take time to see the beauty that life has to offer. Together we would stop and watch birds playing in a puddle. We would together catch the drift of wonderful aromas from a nearby flower garden. I would smile with her when she would meet a doggie friend and want to linger to enjoy the friendship. Taking Peggy in at the age of 14 for the last year and a half of her life was one of the best things I have ever done.

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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