Don`t weep at my grave
Because I`m no longer here
But please never let
Your memories of me disappear" - Dream Theater "The Spirit Carries On"
The two bridgekids-Flossy and Darien
Darien with baby Elvis
His last Halloween
With his "girlfriend" Tai
On his Giant bed
Darien had a rough start as a racing Greyhound at the Naples-Ft. Meyers greyhound track in Florida. He was about 2 days away from being put down before Joey's Greyhound Rescue took him in.
At the time, my best friend Amber was on the lookout for just the right Greyhound for me. I had a few potential adoptions not pan out, and I was bummed. I swore Darien was just waiting for me.
Two weeks before Christmas of 2000, I got a call that my new dog who's kennel name was "Blackie" was quickly winning over Amber's house! Her exact words "If you don't take him I'm keeping him!". Little did I know...
Darien arrived at my door with a big red bow around his neck, and lots of emotional baggage. However, he walked right in my house and acted like he was there for years. As new Greyhound owners my mom and I broke the first Cardinal Rule--we left Darien, a dog who we had only known for 30 minutes, alone loose in our house with a small fuzzy dog (Princess) and my fuzzy cat Midnight--to get dog supplies. We came back home to no destruction, no dog fight, no eaten cat, and only a few pillows moved on my mom's bed. He was perfect from that first moment.
He did have his hangups though. For months he wouldn't eat in front of us. If someone new would come over he'd either hide or pace. If we encountered a new person on our walk he'd nearly jump out of his skin. And there was his name--"Blackie" was not a name for this dog. I wanted to name him Dante, a tough name for a chicken dog. Though my other best friend Dayna noticed his little tuxedo markings and said "He is like Tuxedo Mask, and he's too chicken to be a Dante. You should call him Darien." Darien and Tuxedo Mask being from an anime called Sailor Moon (which my website backgrounds are from as well)--and the name fit.
To get Darien out of his shell it took a lot of patientce and love--but he turned into a dog that met no stranger and loved to watch television (auto racing was his favorite). He loved every creature he met, human or animal. He was scared of thunder storms, but he came a long way. He went everywhere with me along with Princess, they were dubbed "Mutt and Jeff". My now late Grandma took a liking to Darien - huge because my Grandma grew up afraid of dogs. His favorite snack was grahm crackers and she always kept plenty in stock. When I said "Want to go get gramma crackers?" Darien would get so happy!
When he first got sick, I did everything I could possibly do for him. The cancer was terminal and he was on drugs and pills to keep him comfortable, as well as me catheterizing him every 6-8 hours, round the clock. He still loved life and still loved his walks. When he stopped eating, I knew our time was short. He was sent to the Bridge surrounded by the first people he knew kindness from. He will possibly be the best dog I will ever have the pleasure of sharing my life with - my heart was permanently broken. My Grandma cried when I told her about Darien's illness and in my whole life I never seen her cry at anything. She said "I loved that dog like a grandchild." When Grandma passed away 2 years ago I knew Darien was waiting for her for pets and all the "gramma crackers" she could dish out.
I will never forget you my sweet Darien.
Valentine's picture 2009 (with Princess)
Enjoying Retirement at Grandma's!
Born in 2004, Elvis was my first Cardigan and my intro into the world of dogshows.
He was released from his demons March 17, 2009. This was by far the hardest decision I had to make-he is now romping with his best buddy Darien.
Princess: 9/12/1996-11/11/2009
