Maya
March 1992 — 2 October 1999
Dear God,
As the mother of Moses laid him in the reeds at the River’s edge, entrusting him wholly to your care because she could no longer keep him safe, so we lay Maya beneath this rosebush in our garden. Keep her safe in your love until we come, and give us Grace to come when you call us, as Maya came when we called her. Forgive us those times when we did not love your pet as you would have us do, and accept our thanks for your having given her to us for her brief time on earth, so much of which was spent sleeping. We thank you for the sweet dog she became after a year of continuous obedience training, and for the upper body strength she gave us while we were teaching her to walk on lead. We remember especially her beauty, her charm, her giant presence, and her raucous "BIG DOG" greeting rituals, which caused us to put up automatic lights lest we get mowed down by her enthusiam when we arrived home from work. We remember that she remained a playful pup all her life, a mighty crusher of plastic water jugs, a prodigious chewer of Nylabones, and a collector of squeaky-toys, We thank you that we were with her to take care of her at the end, and that it was reasonably peaceful. May she rest in your love.