A place on the mountain called "Marv's Park"
Molly
Written and kindly shared by Marvin
My little handful of yellow fuzz became a part of my life in 1998. Pick of the litter, silly girl with a brown freckle on her left hip and should have had braces, she had crooked teeth on the bottom. My wife and kids picked her out and they must have known cause she was meant for me.
Molly and I worked hard as a coach and student, not sure who was who. We both learned from each other. We learned the dog commands and body language. Where not to leave the plastic bag from one of those oven bags that turkey is cooked in. Boy can’t believe that passed through. Going to work with out your best pal isn’t easy, so guess what, we went to work together. Again learning this important part of trust and teamwork.
Trips to the mountains and camping took on a whole new meaning, never a dull moment. Look out squirrels and birds Molly is going to find you. Poop that’s always fun to roll in and then get sick in the car or in the back of the pick up from eating something that’s dead or just not good to eat. We ran a 9 K foot race together once neither one of us trained for that day but Molly came out shining, I could hardly walk.
Hunting ducks and geese was the plan of the day come fall of the year. At six months old that girl retrieved her first duck and it didn’t change. We sneaked, crawled, ran, jumped and climbed fences. Molly had no fear of what she was asked to do, never a question of trust. That one old goose jumped up and wanted to fight and lost. Hunting geese on the river one day Molly couldn’t stop herself and ran out on the ice to an open hole in the thin ice, she went in the river currant and knew she was in trouble, turning she grabbed the ice with her paws. I prayed, put down my gun, slid on my belly and made it out to her and was able to save her from going under the ice never to be seen again.
Never will forget how she learned that when we came home from a big game hunt that there was going to be a nice fresh hunk of meat, or a look of what you forgot? Forgot how to hunt? Lost track of all the ducks we shared and all the time we came home with none. Molly was not counting and neither was I, we had each other. I think she forgot the time she tried to retrieve a porcupine, dropped it, grabbed it again, O boy that was a bad day, she was a mess, had to have her put under to get all the quills out of her mouth. Labs tend to not be very defensive but tell you what if you drove a UPS truck or the Co-op propane truck you better walk lightly. Molly had pups, three litters. She never was a mom, she was always ready to get rid of them after they were weaned.
Years pass and I guess we both got a little older together, she still-hunted and did her best every time out. At 8 years old I saw her slow and only took her out on nice days and easy hunts. As it would happen duck hunting isn’t as fun with out our partner along so I didn’t go as much cause she’d know what I was up to and hated being left at home.
Well my girl fell ill the other day, guess she was too proud to show how sick she was cause I really never saw it coming. She passed way just the next day after we thought she was getting better.
Farewell my friend and I am here to say there will be others but never one like you.
The Joy you brought to our lives in those ten or so years will never be forgotten.
Rest in peace
A most sincere thank you to Marvin for sharing this with me and allowing me to share it with you. Written from the heart, how many of us can understand?
Looking down from Marv's Park toward the Rio Grande Reservoir