Meet Ginger the Talking Dog
Ginger joined our family when my son was six and my daughter three. She was a pup when we got her, and I teased the kids that in addition to each other they had a second sibling to grow up with--Ginger, a Golden Retriever and Beagle mix. She lived a joyful life and graced us with her presence for almost 18 years.
Ginger, the gregarious Golden-Beagle loved to talk like a beagle but her looks favored the Golden. It surprised people when that boisterous Beagle bay came out of her each time she opened her mouth in good natured greeting.
Over and over again I'd say, "Oh I know she looks like a Golden, but she's a Golden-Beagle and that's where she gets the bay."
Meet Tracy--The Girl who always saw Ginger's Full Potential
Tracy loved to play with Ginger. She and her friend Tessa would dress Ginger up and invite her to tea parties--and even 'married' her to Teddy, a neighborhood dog, complete with ceremony and bridal outfit. They were the closest of companions for life's important moments--and she always saw Ginger's full potential to be anything she (Tracy) thought she could be. And that brings us to the story of how Ginger got her wings.
"There are only
two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots,
the other, wings."
Unknown
The Day Ginger Got Her Wings
Tracy regularly went on walks with Ginger and I so she heard me give my spiel about Ginger being a Golden-Beagle thousands of times. She never piped in so I never questioned what it was she heard me say.
But you know how kids hear things differently and you never know what they actually heard until an interpretation comes out of their mouth you never even thought of? That's what I discovered one day.
The family was on a camping trip to the coast, and Tracy and I were walking along a trail with Ginger when we stopped to chat with a fellow camper. The woman noted how beautiful Ginger was, and before I could open my mouth to give my usual spiel Tracy blurted out, "She's a Golden Eagle". Why had I never seen that? Of course she was!
And that's the day Ginger, the Golden-Beagle, was forever transformed into a Golden Eagle in my eyes.
Dogs are like Angels
"There are two lasting bequests we dogs hope to give your children. One of these is roots,
the other, wings."
Ginger, the Angel-Dog who got her Wings
Dogs are like angels sent to sit alongside us, grounding us and helping us spread our own wings. We can project all of our dreams and wishes on them and they kindly accept our perceptions and play along while egging us on in our own lives. And for this we are eternally grateful.
A Note on 'The Day Ginger Got her Wings'
The thing about our dogs is they hold stories and memories for us that peek out years later for us to enjoy. When I begin finding spirit beings in pictures I don't start with something in mind. I simply look into the picture and draw what I see.
I let the completed picture that became "Ginger the Golden-Beagle Reinvents herself into a Golden Eagle" sit for a day before I looked in to see what I'd found. There I saw the Golden Eagle wing filled with Golden Dogs and the base of the Eagle a Golden Dog. That discovery unlocked the 'She's a Golden Eagle' story out of my memories and lead to the naming of this piece.
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What day did your dog get her wings? What fond memories are you holding of your angel dogs?
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For more than 35 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up
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