In memory of Nanette

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Kingshead
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In memory of Nanette

#1 Unread post by Kingshead »

Lost my wife of 32yrs in January 2012, having a hard time dealing with the loss. We met as children, Nanette 12 and I 14yrs old, so our relationship spanned 40yrs. I really can't remember a time when she wasn't in my life. This is a true story dedicated to Nanette showing what an angel she was. Nanette would be so happy if this helps even one person appreciate what they have just a little more.

Martin



Blitz and the Beautiful Lady
By Martin C. LaChance
in loving memory of my wife Nanette




"When Blitz joined our family he was just a little puppy only six weeks old, and it was Valentine’s day. My wife Nanette with our middle son Timmy stopped at the local country store to pick up a few items and noticed a family out front giving away puppies. As boys will do, Timmy walked over to pet them and immediately fell in love with the runt of the litter. My wife being the kind hearted saint that she is let Timmy choose any one of the pups he wanted, and he chose Blitz. Of course Blitz didn't know he had a name yet but that all comes later in our story. O.K., I've been telling the story so far but now I want to let Blitz tell it in his own words, I'll just fill in once in awhile when needed."


My earliest memories are of playing and romping with my brothers and sisters while our old uncle Brutus watched over, we called him Unk. "Brutus was an old Bull Mastiff the puppies adopted when their mother went missing." Where our mom and dad were I'll never know but old Unk was great. He would let us get away with just about anything as long as we didn't disobey the man’s orders as given to him. I remember this one time I grabbed Unk's tail and he ran around the yard dragging me through every bush and puddle he could find. It was great fun and Unk never got mad at anything. He even showed us boys how to pee with one leg lifted high. I had a hard time with this at first and kept peeing on my own paw, but Unk was patient and I finally got it right. It was just about this time when I had my first ride in a car, I remember we all had to take turns sticking our heads out the window to see how fast we were going. Wow, was that fast, the wind kept blowing my ears back, I had to squint my eyes, and I think I ate a few bugs.

When we finally stopped I saw this building I had never been to before with this large sign on top, it read "Country Store". The man gathered us up into a cardboard box and brought us out of the car saying we should all look cute and behave. It seemed like we were there forever, and every now and then one of my brothers or sisters would be taken out of the box and not come back. I kept wondering where they went. Then it happened, I saw the beautiful lady, she had long blonde hair and a voice that shimmered when she spoke, I wanted her to see me. She had a young boy with her and he asked if he could see the puppies, she said yes but not to get too attached. The young boy picked me up exclaiming "I want this one". Unsure what this meant I gave him a little nip, then he hugged me tighter saying "He wants me too". The beautiful lady said "I told you not to get attached", and then she looked at me. I wagged my tail with all my might; I just wanted the beautiful lady to speak so I could hear her voice again. She walked over and I shook so bad I thought my skin would shake off, then she touched me, I could feel the love and kindness radiating from her. Then as if answering my wish, she spoke again, "This one sure is cute." she said, and she patted my head, I was in love. The beautiful lady looked at the young boy and then said those fateful words, "O.K., we'll take him home with us".

This was the second car ride of my life and both on the same day. The whole time we were in the car I kept wondering if we were going to see my brothers and sisters, or maybe my mom and dad left this way too and I'll get to see them. I didn't see them, but this ride was much better than the first, I had the window all to myself with no sharing. The young boy held me the whole time telling me I was a good boy and that my name was now Blitz.

As we approached another building the beautiful lady said "We're home" and then she blew the cars horn. I was again wondering if I might see any of my family. The door to the building opened and two dogs bolted out, one just a little bigger than me and all wire haired. The other was a stunningly pretty lady dog that seemed to prance when she walked, I was in love again. The pretty lady dog was so tall and long legged she just trotted around the car anxiously waiting for the beautiful lady to step out. The pretty lady dog was all eyes for the beautiful lady, but I was hoping she would also notice me; she did and immediately started barking. This alerted the small dog that something was up and she also started barking, so I did too, the beautiful lady laughed. The young boy brought me out of the car and lowered me to introduce the others, and after a few sniffs we were all friends......sort of.

We went into the building and here I saw a man and two more young boys that resembled the other young boy, they also smelled similar. They all stood up and the man said "Now, what do we have here?" while the young boys yelled "Puppy!!!" and ran over to pat me on the head. It wasn't long before I was let down to have a real meeting with the other dogs and saw up close just how old the little dog and the pretty lady dog were. The little dog was only a few years older than me and named Peanut, the pretty lady dog was quite old and named Scruffy, but I still didn't see any of my family here, maybe some other time I thought. My new home was great and helped very much with the loss.

The next day I was finally let run outside and explore, the others came along as I hoped. The pretty lady dog, Scruffy, even though she walked with an easy regal grace showed obvious signs of fatigue quickly. Being the scampy puppy though meant I had to play, so my little companion Peanut became my target of attention for action. Peanut was faster than me even with her short legs and it was all I could do to try and keep up as she cut back and forth. She was also much better balanced, this kept me falling all over my feet and tumbling end over end more often than I like to admit.

My new home was in the Sierra Nevada Mountains surrounded by an immense national forest so our playground was endless. Peanut and I spent our days chasing deer, birds, ground squirrels, etc. My puppyhood was great; I hope my brothers and sisters were also. I'll have to ask them the next time we see each other.

"Blitz spent his first year with us growing into a fine, loving family member. He and Peanut were near inseparable as they played tug of war, keep away, and any other doggy games. The whole family came to love him greatly. But as the year passed it was becoming quite apparent he was quickly outgrowing his play companion and was now almost as large as Scruffy. It was also obvious he and Scruffy were starting to spend more time together; Blitz would now not let her go outside the house alone. Over the next year Blitz became so attached to Scruffy he wouldn't go outside without her either. Blitz had taken on the role of protector and wasn't going to let anything happen to his new family. If anyone left the house, including us, Blitz would wait patiently at the window for their return, no matter how long they were gone."

"My wife Nanette had been ill for some time and decided she didn't want to spend another winter in the mountains so we moved down into the valley just before snowfall that year. The new place wasn't as secluded but it did have three acres of fenced land for the dogs to run on. It also had the added benefit of the neighbor’s goats on the other side of the fence to amuse the dogs."


I spent two winters on the mountain before my family decided to move, we used a very large truck and I was allowed to ride in it with my head out the window. Before the actual move, the first clue I had that something was up were all the cardboard boxes all over the house. Scruffy and Peanut told me this wasn't unusual, we had done this before. They said things would get quite frantic for the upcoming weeks then we would get a new home. But I liked this one I told them, and then I realized, hey, maybe I would get to see my lost family this time. That was when I realized it was the first time I thought of my old family as lost, I hoped they were safe.

The new place was great, not as much land or as many trees but the sheep next door were a hoot. They would stick their heads through the fence trying to eat the grass on our side, this left them somewhat vulnerable. Peanut and I would wait until they were all munching and then run at them barking just to watch them scramble, just don't try it with the ram. He took his job protecting his family seriously and would give you a terrific butt with his horns if he could. We never felt his wrath but the lurking coyotes sure did a time or two.

We had been living in our new home for a few months when I noticed a disturbing change in the man and the beautiful lady; they now seemed so sad and distant. I tried my usual antics to make them laugh but nothing seemed to work anymore. The worst part was, the beautiful lady was spending more and more time in bed, the shimmer seemed to have left her voice. The young boys never laughed anymore, they seemed to hibernate in their rooms now. This went on for months, getting worse as the seasons changed. The beautiful lady only seemed to get out of bed when she had to leave in the car, when she returned she seemed even more tired than before. As time went by the beautiful lady became thinner and thinner, and later she even lost some of her gorgeous blonde hair. Something was happening to the beautiful lady and I was worried.

The weather was turning colder and the family brought a tree into the house just like they do at that time every year. They always spend time together hanging things on the tree that light up and look pretty, and then they put packages all under it. That year was different, shortly after the tree was brought home the beautiful lady left in the car with the man and they didn't come home for days. When the car did come back the beautiful lady wasn't with the man, he was very sad and I couldn't seem to cheer him up. I didn't know where the beautiful lady was but I knew she would be home to us soon.

Over the next five weeks I saw less and less of the man, and when I did see him he was always so sad, and now he too was getting thinner. The young boys went with the man in the car sometimes but always returned the same day, not so with the man. Sometimes he would leave and not return for days, and always without the beautiful lady.

The tree in our house never saw any lights that year, or any packages underneath either. The pretty lady dog, Scruffy, was also having problems and seemed to struggle just to get up, or get around without help, and she too was losing weight.

Then one day the man returned so sad I could hardly bear the feeling of despair surrounding him, he didn't leave the house again for more than a week.

About two weeks later the house began filling with empty boxes again just like the last time when we moved to this home. The man and the boys started to pack our possessions into the boxes, but only a few of the things this time. I noticed mostly what seemed to interest the man were the pictures on the wall of the beautiful lady. He packed these with utmost care and everything else seemed to be ignored. Everything that wasn't put into the boxes went outside, then people came in many cars and took the things with them, the man seemed to never stop crying now.

About two weeks later the pretty lady dog, Scruffy, left in the car with the man and didn't return when he did. I'm beginning to wonder about riding in the car. Our house was soon empty, and the few boxes we kept were put into the car. Early the next morning the man, the boys, Peanut, and I got into the car and left.

We've been riding in the car for the past few days, I wonder if we will see the beautiful lady when we get where we are going. I wonder if we will see Scruffy or my lost family too.

"Blitz and Peanut are now again inseparable. It's obvious he still looks out the window waiting for Nanette and Scruffy to return, but he will now have to wait until he is called to join them."
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Kingshead
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Re: In memory of Nanette

#2 Unread post by Kingshead »

I would like to thank all those that took the time out of their busy lives to read this as I know it's quite long.

Martin
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Wrider
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Re: In memory of Nanette

#3 Unread post by Wrider »

I'm sorry for your loss... That's gotta be rough.
Have owned - 2001 Suzuki Volusia
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Re: In memory of Nanette

#4 Unread post by Hanson »

Martin,

Thanks for sharing what is a very personal story about a significant loss in your life. I think a lot of people will have a hard time responding to your post, it is hard to know what to say, but I pray that you and yours find some peace in your lives and some measure of happiness.

Most people would say "I can't imagine what it would be like to...", but the truth is that we can image what it will be like when we experience a similar loss and this makes it hard to discuss this issue. Loss is a part of the human experience and binds us together even when we can not easily express the emotions we experience when others suffer.

I thank you for taking the time to share your Nanette with us. It was a wonderful and courageous gift even if it was somewhat painful to receive.

Warmest Regards,
Richard
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Kingshead
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Re: In memory of Nanette

#5 Unread post by Kingshead »

Hanson wrote:Martin,

Thanks for sharing what is a very personal story about a significant loss in your life. I think a lot of people will have a hard time responding to your post, it is hard to know what to say, but I pray that you and yours find some peace in your lives and some measure of happiness.

Most people would say "I can't imagine what it would be like to...", but the truth is that we can image what it will be like when we experience a similar loss and this makes it hard to discuss this issue. Loss is a part of the human experience and binds us together even when we can not easily express the emotions we experience when others suffer.

I thank you for taking the time to share your Nanette with us. It was a wonderful and courageous gift even if it was somewhat painful to receive.

Warmest Regards,
Richard
Thank you for your response, I know it can be an emotional read. My hope in sharing this is that some will take it to heart and appreciate more fully what they have before it's too late.

Martin
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Re: In memory of Nanette

#6 Unread post by sktart »

Martin alias Kingshead wrote:We met as children, Nanette 12 and I 14yrs old, so our relationship spanned 40yrs. I really can't remember a time when she wasn't in my life.
The above lines show how beautiful relationship between two persons does exist based on mutual understanding. Hello Martin, I am sorry for your irreparable loss, I have no words to console you. Thanks for sharing your story. Best wishes.


Jmish

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