June 15th, 2009 to September 13th, 2021
Exactly 12 years ago, this beautiful, exuberant, smart, head strong, kind and gentle soul entered our lives, home and hearts. He was 10 weeks old and has been keeping us on our toes ever since. I have always said I would never be as smart as he.My constant companion and best friend. Every task required him to supervise, help out and sometimes impede. He enjoyed a schedule, even though we are not structured at all. He made sure I was aware of the important times of day: Morning walkabouts, breakfast, morning snooze, snack times, afternoon rest period, evening outdoor activities, dinner and evening snuggles. Each as important as the previous.
He taught me to appreciate the real joys of life, to be in the present moment, to follow my intuition and abandon all to enjoy being outdoors in nature or snuggling in front of the fireplace or on the couch with the ones you love.
Caleb loved tomatoes. The sungold tomato was planted just for him. He had morning and evening snacks straight from the vine. The day he stole and ate my prize Cherokee Purple tomato that I had nurtured and picked at just the right time remains a priceless memory. His look of satisfaction and guilt said it all. He loved raspberries and ate them with gusto from our wild vines during raspberry season. A puppuccino, hotdogs and roasted chicken bites were exciting treats scored during outings. Caleb rarely met a food he didn’t enjoy with gusto.
Our walks on the farm were such special times that we shared. It offered exercise, connection to nature and each other, respectful encounters with other wild beings, and a sacred space. I will miss these times so much.
Caleb loved his kitties and they loved and ruled him. He was the youngest and they made sure he was trained well in the ways of kitties. They often snuggled together and played in ways that scared me at times. Their retort was “lighten up mom”
Caleb and Lynn had a special bond. His whole being would light up when Lynn got up in the morning, came home from work, joined us at evening playtime. Their special times included lots of out of control “pattalies”, rough housing and major couch snuggling. These past two years as Lynn worked from home, Caleb had the double duty of supervising Lynn’s work, adding his opinion to zoom meetings and reminding him of walking to the mailbox daily.
Caleb was obsessed with his orange chuck-it balls. He had a beautiful spiraling catch that left one in awe, loved to chase the long distance throws and invented games to play with us. Being outside will be so lonely now.
He was the light in our lives. Our world is much dimmer and our grief is huge. Our home is empty and our hearts broken. Fly free my sweet man. Mama and Daddy love you
