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Rebel-Ranger Darcy 10/23/92-3/28/01
On March 28, 2001 My best friend, my baby-boy, the BEST Dalmatian that God
ever thought of creating,
went home for good.
Rebel was 8 and a half years old and I swear that dog was a little person
trapped inside the body of a canine!
I named my record company after him.
You can see what I picked for a screen name.
He traveled with us to North Carolina and Utah.
He knew when I was afraid
and he would crawl close to me on the bed and snuggle up
and make me feel safe.
If my belly hurt he would lay just close enough to let the warmth from his
body soothe the discomfort. Not just to me, but anybody else who was ouching.
(My mom & Becky for sure!)
He loved getting his belly scratched and his ears rubbed.
He would lay his head down across my legs and sleep.
He would stretch his neck way back
and always do a doggy yawn.
He smiled all the time the way dogs do.
He liked to search for treats in the garbage.
He liked to sneak a lick off the dirty plates when the dishwasher door was
open.
One Halloween I walked in the front door of the house with a Very SCARY mask
on. He came running and barking toward me until he got about 4 feet away.
He looked up at the mask- went from TOUGH GUY to YIPPING FRAIDY CAT
in a split-second-
spun on a dime and ran around the corner into the office.
We all laughed until we cried.
I felt so bad cause I scared him.
He would come into the office sometimes and just sit and stare at me until i
looked at him ...and he would just look into my eyes.
I swear he could see all the way through to the bottom of my heart.
"What is it Reb?" I would say ..."what do you want, sweetie?"
He would come in the office and do his "dance" for me and Brian.
Wiggle his whole body as we went down the list..
"What do you want Reb?.... A bone?....... You wanna eat?........go for a
WALK
?"
When we said the right item-he would do his "dance" full throttle and start
talking like
Elroy
from the Jetsons.
When I had insomnia
he would follow me from
the couch to the bed to the
couch
and then to my desk and then back to the couch.
He always wanted to be by my side.
When I would talk and talk to Brian, Rebel would listen and if I stopped
talking for a second, inbetween sentences, he would let out this SIGH....like
he was saying...
"OH MY GOD...is he ever going to get to the end of the story!!??"
It was soooo funny.
We went hiking in Utah.
He was always ahead of me. Investigating every twig, smell and sound.
We got to the top of the mountain in about 2 hours.
Our reward was a lake named appropriately, "DOG LAKE."
I let Rebel off the lead and he ran free, playing in the water.
He was my friend,confidant, child,buddy, and fellow free-spirit all rolled
into one.
He was so brave.
when he was fighting to breathe at the end,
his eyes would still light up and his tail still start to thump against the
floor whe he saw me.
and he would smile......
the way dogs do.
the way Dalmations do.
The way Rebel did.
He never wanted to let on to how sick he was until the very end.
He touched so many lives. He loved his walks down to the river.
He is missed so much by Brian, Lindsey, Rachel, Courtney, Grandma K,
His Aunts, Becky, and so many of our friends who knew him.
And as for me,
I never thought I could grieve so much
over a 50-odd pound ball of fur with black and white spots
and the deepest brown eyes.
He was my own personal Pongo.
He was my childhood dream come real.
I am SO grateful for every moment of the 8 years we had together
but
I am going to miss that dog.
for
he was much more than just a
dog
to me.
I want to thank all of the you out there who knew and loved Rebel over the
years. Thank you for all times you took care of him..fed him,walked him,
loved him, when I was not around or working.
Thank you for all your words of comfort to Brian and Me.
Thanks to Donna & Terry Mclamb of Windstar Dalmatians- Without their
generosity and big hearts, Rebel would never have come into my life and I
would be much poorer in spirit.
They are what ALL BREEDERS should be. They were always there the last 8 years
for me and Reb.
Thanks for undertanding.
A HUGE THANK YOU to an ANGEL on earth, who goes by the name of "Trish" and
works as a nurse in the I.C.U. at Florida Veterinary Services Hospital here
in Tampa.
She NEVER LEFT REBEL's SIDE and was there for us throughout this ordeal. She
went above and beyond the call of duty and was a blessing to us.
I have attatched to this email a pic of Me and Rebel from 1993. It was taken
the first day I got him home.
To all of you out there who never knew him, thanks for letting me tell you
about him and share my feelings with you.
God Bless you all.
4/5/2001
-Alan
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