We are not sure exactly when Falcor was born .. we
think it was sometime near the end of 1988. Unbeknowst to me, he had
already been picked out. So he was a Valentine's Day present in 1989.
It was obvious that he was THE one.
When
we first brought him home, he had gone into the kitchen to lay down and he
reminded us of the good luck dragon in Neverending Story.
Falkor was the
"luck-dragon" in that movie. There's a scene in the movie where Falkor is
lying down, talking to Atreu. And our little puppy, Falcor, looked just like that
lying on our kitchen floor.
He was quick to learn the word "out" or "outside" and
was ready to leap for the door when he heard that. We began spelling it
O-U-T, yet even that wasn't enough...he learned to recognize that
too!
He parked himself in the dining room and was an
immovable object! It was comical! When you asked him to move, he
would give these 3 short grunts to show his irritation. It was so
cute that I often immitated it!
We had what I
called "the changing of the guard". While my wife was up late,
talking to friends online, Falcor would get up on the bed next to
me. In the early morning, he would get off the bed and nudge up to
me , being my "furry, four-legged alarm clock", until I got out of
bed . He did this so he could get up on the bed next to her to sleep
when I left for work.
It was always such a happy sound
to hear those dog claws clicking through the house. And then there was the
occassional "dog quake" when he would scratch. (We live in a house that
has a raised foundation, so his scratching would rattle the
floorboards.)
There was also "losing control of
gravity" , when he'd roll over on his back and want you to scratch his
belly. He made great fun of rolling over like this. He'd rock back
and forth and have a smile on his face as he did it.
After Falcor passed, we parked overlooking all of
Valley Center. It is a beautiful view from up there and we sat in the car
for quite a while just enjoying the view. There were only wispy clouds in
the otherwise bright blue skies. Later, I made the comment that Falcor's
spirit was now at ease, flying through the sky. And it was almost at
the same moment, that my wife looked straight ahead of us and pointed
out a puffy billowy cloud that looked just like the luck dragon, Falkor, in
NeverendingStory. It had a huge smile on its face and it lasted just long
enough for us to see it.
This was the only billowy cloud in the sky ... in
all other directions there were just wisps.
A message from God telling us Falcor was in His care
now.
So it
is with great regret that we say goodbye to our Falcor,
