Once upon a time there was a young girl whose daddy loved her so much he gave her the most magical gift he could think of – a yellow lab puppy. I wasn’t there for that moment, but I like to imagine that there was a great deal of joy and the air was filled with a crackling of magic. Great things were about to happen, greater than anyone could have imagined because you see, when a young girl is given a puppy as special as Miss Matches both their worlds are forever changed for the better and frankly, so is ours.
Miss Matches wasn’t simply a dog, she was everything to a thirteen-year-old girl. She was a partner in crime on the dock, a challenge to keep in the flyball lanes, a rat finding fiend, a weight pulling star, sure, but she was more than that. Miss Matches was there for first love, first heartbreak, adventures and misadventures. She screamed her way through so many pivotal moments in her girl’s life. It wasn’t all frozen yogurt and neon pink and green war paint, boys and dog sports. When the best daddy a girl could ever have asked for left this world, Miss Matches was there in a way none of us could be. Miss Matches was larger than life, a secret keeper, a reason to be, a celebration of a daddy’s love.
It was through dock jumping I met Beckie and her wild beast dog. I still clearly remember the day. It was a cool summer morning bordering on early fall at Donner Lake where a handful of dock jumping enthusiasts gathered around the dirt embankment of a public dock to practice. John Tresise, a flyball teammate of mine and ultimate ambassador for all things dog sport, asked me to come with him as he wanted to introduce me to a family with two labs and two junior handlers who might be interested in flyball. I heard the excited shrill shrieks of Miss Matches before I even made it to the roadside parking. “Jesus,” I thought. “THAT is a lot of dog.” She was and that is what made the adventure that much more fun and yes challenging. Miss Matches wasn’t just a dog, she was a force of nature and I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to love her and love her girl.
Every fairy tale must come to an end. We all wish for happily ever after but these wonderful creatures who give so much of themselves to us simply can’t stay by our side forever. It is inevitable and we dread the day with every fiber of our being. When they leave us, they take a piece of our heart that can never be filled. In their wake, there is a bone deep, earth shattering sense of loss. We cry until there are no tears left and then cry even more. The sense of loss of each being takes our breath away and just when we think at last, we can proceed, the grief sneaks out of an unexpected photo or the discovery of a special toy under the couch and finds us again. But it is in this grief that we find memories so sweet and even silly, we can’t help but smile. We find a weak laughter that grows and become contagious. We find that the love our dogs had for us is still with us even though their early being has gone. We come around a corner and catch a fleeting glimpse of not the old dog we said goodbye to but the happy, healthy puppy who changed our lives for the better.
Miss Matches left today with peace, dignity and love in the arms of the beautiful grown up woman whose life she helped shape. But in this moment of deep sorrow there is a bit of light, a final bit of magic left in this story. Miss Matches may have crossed to the great beyond, but there is no doubt in my heart that the very best daddy a girl could ever ask for was waiting with open to arms to welcome her and thus begins a new journey watching over the girl and her family and for that I am grateful.
In memory of Miss Matches, loved so very much by Beckie Bowers
UWP Becca’s Miss Matches of Reno RATO ITD SRD-P FF-G FDX TF CGC RATI
February 11, 2004 – July 3, 2018
To Beckie, I listened to Matchbox Twenty while I struggled to put together the words in my heart to share the story. I must have catalogued a hundred memories from neon pink bedrooms to silly dad jokes, war paint and splashes so big poolside I declared Miss Matches’ new name to be Shamu. There will be time in the days, weeks and months to come for all those memories. Today, my heart hurts too much for the junior handler and her puppy I first met on the side of a lake who has grown into a friend I consider more family, with all the ups and downs that come with that. So it is with love and a broken heart I offer this…
Tonight
Looking back on all this life
It’s funny how the time goes by
And how, sometimes
It slides away
Time
Sliding through the day to night
Shaking ’till you start to cry
Your eyes won’t dry
Till light of day
And sleep away
Don’t let it go
Don’t let it fade
Your dreams may cave
And falling apart
It’s the only way
We go so low
When you don’t know
I will
…
I will
If you go
Take a little piece of me
Hang it by the place you sleep
And dream of me
Don’t leave
Just sleep away
Don’t let it go
Don’t let it fade
Your dreams may cave
And falling apart
It’s the only way
We go so low
When you don’t know
I will
We go so low
When you don’t know
I will
…
I will
Tonight
Looking back on all this life
It’s funny how the time goes by
And how, sometimes
It’s slides away
Lyrics from “I Will”
Matchbox Twenty, 2012