Big Jesse and little Meggie
Jesse, my golden retriever was an only dog, and rarely got into trouble. Her favorite friend Meggie, my oldest daughter’s small golden retriever would spend hours with Jesse.
The dogs would romp, and wrestle, and hunt, and run until they wore themselves out and collapsed into a heap with noses touching. Best friends they were; always looking out for each other, always sharing their happiness, their food and water, their houses and their masters.
One cool spring morning, I loaded up my daughters and the goldens in the truck, and we drove to Lake Erie to work on our old boat.
Jesse and Meggie could always be trusted to stay close by at the marina, where the 1929 boat was stored. The large ragtag vessel, in the mist of renovation, was wintered on a boat-lift inside an open-ended boathouse.
The pups were free to roam about outside while I worked and my daughters did homework. Several times that day I climbed down the ladder to check on the girls and the pups. Several times that day only Meg came by to greet me. I assumed Jess was snoozing under a tree, so I didn’t bother to look for her.
Dogs have an especially good warning system. Jess and Meg would give a soft “woof,” when friends and family came to visit, and occasionally “woofed” a hostile protective noise, whenever they sensed danger.
Had I been paying closer attention, I would have noticed that Meg was anxious and whiny and talking to me in an unfamiliar “woof.”
Finally I followed her. She led me to the end of the dock, where we found Jess in the bay, treading water, exhausted and close to drowning.
We figured she had lost her footing, and had fallen overboard approximately four hours earlier. She had no way to climb out of the steep embankment surrounding the marina.
All of this happened while I went about my tasks ignoring Meg’s faithful warnings! The girls and I lowered the boat lift, and coaxed the very tired pup around the corner of the boathouse, and into a stall, where we could lift her saturated, one hundred pound body out of the frigid water.
Meg stayed right beside her best friend for hours, licking her dry, while emitting soft little cries of endearment.
God wants to protect us from impending danger. He uses His Word, His Spirit, and His children to warn us—but we don’t always listen, as I didn’t with Meg.
Listen for His voice, and obey and cherish your good and faithful friends, like Big Jesse and little Meggie.
Blessings,
Dianne Hammontree
Secretary of Homeward Bound Dog Shelter of Ashland County
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