Ch. Cherfire Breigayt Silvr Bullet
We went to pick up BC at Logan Airport in Boston on a summery late September day in 2000. There he lay in his crate, regal, dignified, head up, eyes alert. Since BC left us, that's what I remember, that handsome bearing. BC immediately claimed the house, and chose as his "throne" the huge living room chair. All through his days he kept that chair as his, and after awhile no one else sat in it. Ranger, our other collie, learned through some unspoken doggie language that BC was the Top Dog, and it was never questioned. BC was diagnosed with lymphoma in Dec. 2001, but before he left us, he met the love of his doggie life, who was an abused girl we obtained through the Collie Rescue League of New England, named Sarah. They became fast friends. Sarah never left his side and when a larger dog at the vet's barked at her, he got between Sarah and the larger dog. No growling or barking, just his presence was enough -- it was always enough. About a month after we got Sarah, BC, now raggedy from the chemotherapy, could not fight his cancer anymore. We said goodbye to him too soon, and cried, but he will never be forgotten, and I know that now with silken, thick, healthy fur he's running in a sun-streaked meadow somewhere. But there is a happy ending, of sorts. We now have his grandson Lucas who is a lot like BC, stubborn, intelligent, and above all regal. He, like his grandfather, owns the house and its occupants, and it's somehow fitting that Sarah gets to raise BC's grandson.
"I have sent you on a journey to a land free from pain, not because I did not love you, but because I loved you too much to force you to stay."