Sonny Two-Moon

Geri and Sonny Two-Moon

My story takes me back 15 years. I had just been diagnosed with cancer. I was devastated at this life-changing news. I looked out into a bleak future that may not be more than six months or a year, no one knew. In 1989, our daughter, Jennifer, wno was living with us at the time had sat in the kennel with our old dog, Buck, a Golden Retreiver and English Setter mixed breed; during his last hours of life. We all remember our last good-byes to this faithful pet as he came to each one of us at the end of the day to extend his paw for one last "Good-bye" handshake. In our grief, Jennifer found Sonny in a nearby town, one of a litter of Newfoundland pups, small, black, and appealing with that unique puppy appeal. She bought him and brought him home. And the puppy watch started to take our minds off of the aching we felt inside at the loss of Buck. Sonny was lonely when my husband and I went to work, and would howl, so we found another dog, Skipper, a Golden Retreiver, to keep him company. Now we were a family of four, as Jennifer had moved by this time. So, in 1995, there was I often sitting in the morning sun on the step of my porch with no hair under the covering of the hood of my sweatshirt, with Sonny sitting beside me, and Skipper in the yard nearby. Sonny was always at my side during my year of treatment. I will never forget how, as a six-year-old dog, he would look at me with a knowing look as if to say, "I'm here for you, Girl!" Those days were not lonely and less frightening because of this giant of compassion, with his giant heart, his big and solid body right there pressing into my side to draw strength from when I most needed it. Sonny was my soul mate, and when we lost him just after I had completed my treatment, from a telescoped colon, we were again devastated, especially me. We had found him out on the trail where we walked each day, and from which he never returned--conscious, to live another day. It is good to have the opportunity to write a tribute to the most noble dog G-d ever created. "He saw you through your cancer treatment", my husband said of the Noble Giant. Then, there was Skipper. And a new cycle began. There still are tears in my eyes for Sonny, though.