Buddy the dog

? - June 30, 2004 Buddy was Mom & Dad's adopted dog. He used to live about a mile away, but became a wanderer. He could be seen all over the Fayetteville area. Mom and Dad took him in to avoid the dog catcher. Every morning he'd take off on a mile trek to hang around Fayetteville. He'd hang around the store and the fire station. He'd often come into the fire station and make himself at home on the couch. As he got older he'd hitch rides with Mom and Dad to and from the store. Buddy could often be seen riding in style in the back of a Cadillac. Once Buddy went missing for days. Someone found him over 20 miles away! Buddy used to cross the road alot between the fire station and the Fayetteville Store. I was afraid he would get hit by a car, but in the end it was old age that took him. He wasn't a young dog when he came to live with Mom and Dad, and he spent many happy years with them. We laid him to rest in peaceful woods next to Tasha and Maisey. Buddy with his summer haircut. Being lazy at the fire station. High up in the courts of heaven today A little dog angel waits; With the other angels he will not play, But he sits alone at the gates. For I know my master will come, says he, And when he comes he will call for me. The other angels pass him by As they hurry towards the throne, And he watches them with a wistful eye As he sits at the gates alone. But I know if I just wait patiently That someday my master will call for me. And his master, down on the earth below, As he sits in his easy chair, Forgets sometimes, and whispers low To the dog, who is not there. And the little dog angel cocks his ears, And dreams that his master's voice he hears. And when at last his master waits Outside in the dark and cold, For the hand of death to open the door, That leads to those courts of gold, He will hear a sound through the gathering dark, A little dog angel's bark. - Author Unknown