Quartet Valentine

Monday, June 7, 1999

Dear Cheryl -

This morning at 10:30, we put Quartet to sleep. Over the weekend she managed to break her very fragile right hip in several places. Being more than fifteen years of age, she was not a candidate for the necessary surgery to repair the damage. And I couldn't subject her to the trauma that would result from the removal of her leg.

When I picked her up at the kennel eight years ago, no one was particularly interested in her because she was old and arthritic. I gladly accepted the responsibility for her, being old and arthritic myself. As we left Chandler, she stood in the back seat of my VW Beetle, looked out the back window, and whimpered all the way to her new home. She apparently had some sense that where she had lived for many years while she became a Class A racer, a mother of several batches of puppies, and then her owner's favored bitch, was not the place she was going to. But as soon as I fed her after our arrival in Tempe she bonded to me and always moved from room to room with me so I wouldn't be out of her sight. If she couldn't find me, she would go to Kristin and look at her as though to ask, "Where's Gene?" She had become quite deaf in the past couple of years, but she managed to read lips and understand the need for patience.

During the past few years, her patience was severely tried, too. Because of her injuries and physical problems, Quartet frequently saw the inside of her veterinarians' office. But all of the staff enjoyed Quartet and accorded her considerable gentleness.

Quartet was the perfect greyhound: loyal, even tempered, obedient, affectionate, and funny (she would smile on demand and then offer her paws to be shaken). And we will always associate with her the unusual event that occurred when I buried her under the pines in our yard. After I had tapped down the earth and was backing away from the grave, a beautiful swallowtail butterfly rose from the ground behind the grave, darted into the air, fluttered about for a few seconds, and then disappeared out of sight. I don't know whether greyhounds have souls, but I think I saw Quartet's.

Cheryl, Kristin joins me in thanking you for bringing Quartet and the Valentines together. She has brought us much joy during the eight years we were together. And as the words on the plaque you all gave her in April read: she proved "that a greyhound's love goes on and on." Her memory will always be with us.

Sincerely,

Gene