Obituary of Darby Dog
Now begins the pain for those who know. We must find a way to repair our now incomplete selves. So much of our daily joy, our interactions with each other, all centered on this being who gave all her life to us. For such a huge span of time in our lives we found comfort and laughter and marvel in our Darby. There were no qualifications, no bad days. There will never be another like her, we cannot imagine it. Not the fastest, nor the strongest. Not the most agile or the best behaved. No not these things. But she was sneaky and soft and covered bones by shoveling dirt with her nose. She made sure everyone in the household praised her skill in finding buried treasures as they were paraded around the house. She never tired of trying to fluff the blankets to be just right, but always seemed resigned that they could not become perfect. And Darby had a face more beautiful than any creature. For all our time together we enjoyed the ultimate impromptu ambassador.
Our Darby was instant celebrity and just one look touched and melted the hearts of hundreds, of many hundreds of humans. For years Darby held court in the living room claiming the best chair as throne, and she could defend that throne with just a glance. Nothing else was needed to assert her status as the one true queen of the household. In earlier times tennis balls were items of delight, but retrieving was not her game. Rather we played 'bet you can't catch me and get the ball back'. Short legs were no impediment to speed for Darby, and she was remarkably maneuverable. Darby always won, but usually there was just one round to the tournament, capped often by running at enormous speed in a couple of figure-eights for her victory lap. In later years the ball was abandoned, but till the end you could not take the Darby out of Darby.
Even as she endured the indignities of multiple surgeries our precious “baby girl” remained true to her gentle and so rich personality. We could not do enough for her and I surely hope that during her life she understood how much she meant to us.
Love, Randy (dad), Nancy (mom), and brothers, Aaron & Nathan
