Last year, I wrote to Santa every day in Advent and, on the very last day, I told him a story. It is a tale that my mother told me when I was a pup, from the Long Remembering of our kind. She said that it is really a story just for the four-legses like me, and that if I ever had puppies of my own, I should tell it to them, so they would not forget.
I never had puppies… just my boys and I gave them all the love I would have given to my pups. But stories need to be shared lest they be forgotten. So, from my heart to yours, let me tell you of a time long ago…
Much love,
Ani
xxx
Angels
We knew when the Child had been born.
Their Book doesn’t tell them about that, does it? Just the sheep and the choirs of angels. It doesn’t mention the dogs.
They didn’t see how we pricked up our ears and twitched our noses. How we raised our faces to the night and how those with a voice joined the song of the stars.
They do not tell how we guarded the Child as he grew. How we taught him to laugh and play in the dusty streets. Of his hands on our ears or our head on his knee. Of the tears he wept into our fur and the comfort we gave when the days were cruel.
We are just dogs. By the time they told his story, they had forgotten us.
But still we watched. Those who could worked, guarding their flocks, chasing down game or rodents. We were just creatures to whom they threw a crust or a bone. Or pests; homeless wanderers, unwanted and unloved. Some, it is true, lost faith and sank into their darkness.
It hadn’t always been that way.
We had crept close to their fires long, long ago, in the savage times when their life was hard, sent to teach them of love and loyalty. To show them how to work together. To help them grow. We cared for them, guarding their sleep, teaching them the way of the hunt, cleaning the discarded food from their camps and keeping the rats away from their cradles.
They have forgotten. How could they not? Their memories turn inwards now. They have lost the Long Remembering and see only today and yesterday in their quest for tomorrow. They do not understand that the memory of their kind is still deep in their bones.
Yet it is from the bones of their ancestors that they begin to remember. Over thirty thousand turns of the sun ago, they laid us to rest beside their dead. There are those who begin to see the role we played and how it was our presence in their lives that helped them become what they are today.
We do remember. We know why we are here, walking beside them, helping them learn who they can be. Comforting them in the dark times. We know our place in the Great Order of life.
And we know when a Child of Light comes into the world.
We have watched them come, one by one, for there have been many. Their words and their lives are tossed around like toys, their bodies often broken by Man’s cruelty and fear. Man is a fearful creature after all. Yet every time, some of them hear and learn. Some of them see the spark of Light in the words and deeds… and see then forever that same spark shining in every living creature.
We need no Star. We always feel the birth of Love. It calls to us, for it is what we are. They need no Star either, they only think they do. They think too much and let themselves feel too little.
It is told that some of our kind were there, with the sheep and the shepherds that night.
Perhaps it is true. Perhaps, like many stories, it is only a story. Yet truth wears many guises and can be hidden in many places. The Long Remembering knows truth, not just a narrow reality.
We know too that every child is a Child of Light. Guard them well, They told us, and teach them how to Love.
Who knows which of them will change the world?
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
What a wonderful story Sue and Ani!
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Ani says thank you, Ritu 🙂
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❤
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Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
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Ani says thank you 🙂
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That was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever read. I have tears in my eyes, as I look down at my old dog Chase, as he lies by my feet. I also think of my grandchild who is almost one, and has a loyal, loving dog watching over her. Thank you very much. The story made my day.
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Thank you, Patrick. My Ani (and the eternal tennis ball) is at my feet… and has made friends with my little granddaughters too.
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A lovely story. Thanks for sharing it with us Ani. Sending snuggles.
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Thanks, Darlene.
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We have an eight-year-old Shepherd that has attached her loyalties to our grandson. He’s type 1 diabetic and doesn’t always know when he’s going low, but Annie does. She’ll sniff him and the nudge under his hand and whine a little, trying to get attention. She does this with no training from us. All I can say is she’s his guardian angel and we’re ever so grateful!
Happy holidays!
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Dogs have a wonderful gift of knowing what we often fail to see. My eldest son was paralysed down his right side and although he has movement bac now, my Ani will not play tugging games with him at full strength. Me? she’ll darned near twist an arm off to win… the six foot young man gets treated like porcelain.
Merry Christmas, Jacquie.
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Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
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Thanks for sharing, Jaye x
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Dogs and children always have a bond, don’t they?
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They do…
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And now you’ve gone and made me cry …
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Oh dear….
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What a beautiful story, thank you Sue,, and Ani 🙂
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Glad you enjoyed it, Judy. 🙂
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Ah Ani, whichever one it is that’s to change the world I hope they come soon. There is a person shaped hole just waiting for them to fill and I hope they have dogs on either side of them to remind them of the love they bring. Now is the time for hate to stop altogether.
Hugs
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Both me and my two-legs agree with you wholeheartedly, David… though we can all change the world just a little. Hugs xxx
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What a touching story, Ani. I totally believe your canine ancestors were present at the Savior’s birth, or very near. Dogs are among the most loyal of human companions. Wishing you and Sue and your boys a joyous Christmas.
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The two-legs and me wish you and your familly a very happy Christmas, Lyn xx
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A beautiful story, Ani. One of the best I’ve read this season. Thank you for sharing it!
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Thank you, Eliza. xx
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What a wonderful Telling. 🙂
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Thank you 🙂
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A beautiful and heartfelt story Ani. Sounds like your ‘mother’ was very wise.
Beautiful Sue. Wishing you and yours a most beautiful Christmas and lots of love and good health in the New Year and always. ❤ xx
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Thank you, Debby. Ani and I send our warmest Christmas wishes to you and your family. ❤ xx
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Thank you both so much. Merry Christmas!!! ❤ xx
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❤ 🙂 ❤
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This is just utterly stunning! What a beautiful story. KL ❤
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Ani says thank you, KL 🙂
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