It Was All About Galaxy

It was a great day on Friday. We did manage to get going by 10:15.

The drive to Jordon Lake is about 2 hours from our home. Jordon is located just outside of the Raleigh area and is actually very close to Apex, NC where they had a big chemical explosion just last week. It made the national news here in the states.

About noon we stopped by the only McDonalds that can accommodate a 32 foot trailer and a large pickup truck. The dogs recognize the golden arches and know I’ll come out with some happy dog meals as treats. Boscoe the parrot loves the fries and as usual ended up dropping four or five between my back and the seat back.

We rolled in to Jordon Lake and found our absolutely favorite spot on the lake was vacant. We camp at this spot whenever we can. It has a private pier and sits about 15 feet over the water. It is a very large and private spot and has a good place to point the satellite dish.

The dogs all ran down the pier and plopped in the lake while Gigi and I set up.

By 2:15 we left for an appointment at the North Carolina State School of Veterinary Medicine. We had a 3 PM appointment to present the school with a watercolor portrait of our border collie Galaxy.

As you may recall, we lost our 6 year old Galaxy in January to lymphoma after a hard fought battle at the Veterinary Hospital. My talented sister Judy painted the portrait and my talented wife framed it complete with a bronze dog tag that read, “Galaxy, Our Best Friend, 1999-2006”. She mounted this dog tag at the bottom of the matt.

So we headed to our appointed time with the picture, a hammer and a bulldog hook to hang the picture. I had simply asked if we could hang the picture somewhere in oncology to memorialize Galaxy.

To our surprise we were met by a university photographer and five staff members who all remembered us and Galaxy, or who had heard about Galaxy and the painting. They were so honored that we were making this gift to the school and we were so honored that they were making such a big deal about Galaxy and the painting.

They led us to exam room 12 where you could see a space on the wall where a faded stock print had once hung. The wall had been patched and sanded in preparation for Galaxy’s painting.

Then they led us to the quiet room. The quiet room is a dimly lit and well appointed room complete with tissues for tears. It is a place where family can meet with their sick pets and spent time just visiting before the pet is led back to their room for treatment. We spent many hours in the quiet room.
Galaxy

This time the quiet room made a nice setting for a publicity photo of Gigi and I holding the portrait. This photo will be used as a feature article about giving to the University’s Vet School.

Again we were led back to room 12 where I hung the painting under the guidance of two university maintenance engineers. They laughed that we had our own hammer and hooks. Our hammer and hooks were better than the ones the university had.

We were so flattered for Galaxy about the big deal they made over the portrait. Of course my sister is one talented painter. She can capture the eyes and she did capture Galaxy’s happy eyes. Her happy eyes are what everyone remembered.

Now we will submit an article and more pictures for the upcoming article. Reprints of the article will be located at the portrait so others will know who Galaxy was and understand the meaning of the portrait.

Rest in peace Galaxy, I feel atoned for your untimely death.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

GiGi did a great job of framing the painting.
This blog brought tears to my eyes. Especially the part about being in the quiet room. Those times are so difficult.
Galaxy was such a special dog!