Goodbye dear Sam

I knew as soon as I heard the phone ring just before 7 this morning that it wasn't going to be good news.  Jenna had been crying for several minutes already but the warmth of my bed made it hard to get out into the cold room.  Once the ringing started, I hopped out and ran to the kitchen forgetting to grab my glasses from my nightstand.  I had to squint at the call display and of course it was a number I didn't recognize.  Do I answer it or let the machine get it?  I seem to have a phone phobia when it comes to talking to anyone I don't know.  Soon the voice of a man could be heard.  He was from Miller road maintenance and said he had some very unfortunate news about our dog who had been found on the road.  We were asked to call back anytime that day about picking him up.

This was not the news I wanted to hear.

We have had many calls in the past from people (complete strangers who must be real dog lovers) who have found our Samson walking on the road.  Usually he was only a couple of minutes from home.  Some of them picked him up and brought him to their homes, or even one time to Best Buy. A few times the people would bring him right back to our house.  The worst was when someone called at 3 am. No one is supposed to call at that time unless someone has died.  The first time Samson was picked up it was right in front of our house at 5 am and the lady who took him brought him to work with her in Peterborough!  

I feel like this is making Samson sound like a real runaway;  that this is making him sound worse then he really was.  As long as he was tied up at night, he was pretty good.  And last night he wasn't tied up. Chris had gone looking for him Sunday night to tie Samson up but he was already off on an adventure.  His body was found on the 403 hwy several kilometres from here.  Chris picked him up from the maintenance yard and dug a hole to burry his body.  Nathan stuck a stick in the ground to mark the spot.  

We could go through a list of "if only we had"'s but we cannot change what is now the past.  Nathan is already asking for a new dog.  Chris will be without his partner in the bush this winter when cutting down trees.  There were days in the summer that I would wonder why Chris was not in the house yet for supper.  Then I would look outside and see Chris playing with Samson.  I think that's what hurts the most.  Of everyone here, Chris will miss that dog the most, even though I'm the one crying and he's not.