A distinctive mitten-shaped white marking on the back of her neck and shoulders evoked the name Mitten. But her nickname, Mitt, matched her independent personality and quickly became her routine handle. She came into this world August 2nd 2004, and joined our family in October 2004, when she was about eight weeks old. At a time we were on the watch for a Welsh Corgi, our daughter who was living in San Antonio located Mitt in New Braunfels, TX. She immediately called us and emailed endearing snapshots. What a cute pup. We drove all the way from Loveland to bring her into our family.
For seven all-too-short years she was a love and light in our life. Things we will remember always and see in our mind’s eye as we grieve:
· Her eyes said it all – her love, her trust, her concern, her needs
· Her stubby Corgi tail wagging excitedly under her furry coat· Her cock of head as if to ask, “what’s up”
· Her rituals of welcoming of each new day and conducting a final nightly “security check” from the backyard deck
· Her fancy for playing in snow, especially when deeper than she was high
· Her exhilaration from shaking and flinging seed pods fallen from locust trees
· Her obsession for rabbit stalking
· Her penchant for catching goldfish snacks flipped in her direction
Mitt’s loss on September 12, 2011 due to lymphoma came much too soon and has left a gaping hole in our hearts. C.S. Lewis maintains that our pets are saved in and through us. We pray God’s will is that we see her again in heaven. Words of Joni Eareckson Tada in her book Holiness in Hidden Places reinforces our hope that we will.
If God brings our pets back to life, it wouldn’t surprise me. It would be just like Him. It would be totally in keeping with His generous character…. Exorbitant, Excessive, Extravagant in grace after grace. Of all the dazzling discoveries and ecstatic pleasures heaven will hold for us, the potential of seeing Scrappy would be pure whimsy – utterly, joyfully, surprisingly superfluous…. Heaven is going to be a place that will refract and reflect in as many ways as possible the goodness and joy of our great God, who delights in lavishing love on His children.
May God care for Mitt until, in His time, we cross Rainbow Bridge together once again.
Skip & Helen Higginbotham