Wiggles Blue Heeler: Always and Forever

Wiggles Blue Heeler: Always and Forever

 

 

December 5th, 2011

 

 

Wiggles' mommy-me, Julie Kay Smithson propertyrights@earthlink.net

 

 

There is never a doubt that beloved Wiggles Blue Heeler will be with me always and forever. Do you remember the song from the movie, "Pride of the Yankees," called "Always"? "I'll be loving you ... always! With a love that's true ... always. When the things you've planned ... need a helping hand ... I will understand ... always, always. Days may not be fair ... always. That's when I'll be there ... always! Not for just an hour ... not for just a day ... not for just a year ... but always ... always." Deanna Durbin sang it then, but I sang it to Wiggles many, many times over the years, and still do.

I watch God and Wiggles working in Good Boy, communicating and guiding as they also communicate with and guide me, and it warms my heart with a warmth that will never cool, never grow old, but is eternal. When Wiggles and I saw each other on September 22nd, 1998, it was as though we'd always been together, two halves of one soul, and we are still that way ... for always.

Wiggles always had a sweetness about him that permeated his core. He had no 'smell' at all, other than his clean sweetness. No doggy odor, ever. His sweet heart manifested itself in countless ways, and everything remains, including the way his fur felt, his sweet breath mingling with mine in all the nights and mornings when we slept, not snuggled, but each on our own pillow, and my hand often holding one of his feets/feeties/feetles gently. When he'd awaken, he'd slowly go 'belly up,' his dear face near my own, and I'd stroke his throat and tum-tum. How he loved that! Sometimes it took us up to a half-hour to get up, because we just so enjoyed those quiet times as soulmates.

This has been a day filled to overflowing with peace, like last December fifth. When I drove home, westbound, in the still coolness of that December dawn, my heart was filled with peace, and after I got home, a dear friend and her son stopped by to say goodbye to Wiggles, not knowing that he'd returned to Heaven. As they sat in our living room, Christine sitting in the chair Wiggles loved, her son, Max, sitting on the couch where I usually sit, and me, sitting on the other couch, right next to the place on it where Wiggles often slept, we all looked at each other in wonder, ALL of us feeling Wiggles' presence so strongly that I told Christine it felt like, walking through the house, like I was walking through cotton candy, so strong was Wiggles' presence and aura! We all basked and reveled in this miracle as the December sunshine poured into the living room! Even after they left, this miracle of Wiggles and his love permeated my soul and held me in joy, and though days to come held moments of intense grief and many tears -- many times when I could hardly breathe -- this day, one year ago, and again today, brought my baby, the child of my soul, for me to hold once again!

God and Wiggles Blue Heeler: Dual Lifesaving Duo

God and Wiggles Blue Heeler: Dual Lifesaving Duo


September 19, 2011


By Julie Kay Smithson propertyrights@earthlink.net


People meeting Good Boy -- energetic senior Australian Cattle Dog / ACD / Blue Heeler that God and Wiggles Blue Heeler set on course to join me on March 2, 2001 -- tend to view me as some kind of hero. I am anything but!

The glory for this lifesaving belongs to God and Wiggles Blue Heeler. Like Good Boy, I am a beneficiary in this miracle, but not the worker of the miracle.

It makes me uncomfortable to be cast in such a role when I deserve no such honor. Over and over, I try to communicate that it was not only Good Boy's life on the line in late February, but also mine.

The dozen and more years that Wiggles Blue Heeler graced our home and my life with his physical presence, were proof positive that God loans such souls to those of us in such terrible need of them. My need for Wiggles was beyond my puny ability to describe. Only God, Wiggles and I understand that in its entirety.

When Wiggles' health waned -- and no matter how much effort was put into helping fix whatever was going awry, nothing could stop the march of time -- I knew in my heart that his physical body was wearing out. The best care that could be given, could not stay the inevitable. On Sunday morning, December fifth, 2011, Wiggles could physically remain with me no longer. His fourth paw joined the other three in Heaven.

Life required my continued presence and my time (and still does), but there is no measure of the depth of our love. For some time, I could barely breathe. "Going through the motions" of living is not the same as living.

God and Wiggles put their all into saving not one, but two lives.

Unbeknownst to me, there was a small, abused and/or feral, blind heeler dog two hundred miles to my south, whose life was filled with terror and fear. He was on his own -- for how long, no one knows -- when an animal control officer in Franklin County, Kentucky found this little fellow standing, frozen in fright, next to a flooding stream. It was late February, and that part of Kentucky has very little level real estate; it's mostly Appalachian hills. Factor in the slipperiness of winter, no eyesight with which to navigate -- only the grace of God and this dog's instincts kept him alive. Fearful injuries to his tongue and mouth, eyelid and ear, paled when compared to his terrible toothache. He was having to drink cold water and eat, with at least two completely broken teeth, not counting the few he was already missing. An infection behind his right cornea made his eye not only red, but also sore. How his mind was able to keep him going, is part of the miracle.

The evening of March first, I returned home from visiting a family member. Tired beyond description, I signed in at Facebook. Someone had posted a photo of a cattle dog / blue heeler in need of saving -- not the first cattle dog whose photo I'd seen posted with a plea for help -- but this time, I felt an almost tangible urging from 'somewhere' to help this dog. It was too late to speak with anyone at the shelter, but I phoned and left a message, then called back as soon as it was feasible the next morning. I could come visit the 'small girl' whose photo was posted, I was told, and adoption would be considered.

The details of the next days/weeks/months have already been chronicled. Suffice to say, that dog in need and this woman in need, were melded.

I ask that people not look at me as a hero or miracle worker. Here is where the credit belongs: God still works miracles, and my beloved Wiggles Blue Heeler helped with this one. Good Boy and I are living proof!

Wiggles' Book: Fifty Chapters, Fifty Miracles!

Wiggles' Book: Fifty Chapters, Fifty Miracles!


February 22, 2011


By Julie Kay Smithson, always Wiggles' Mommy propertyrights@earthlink.net


Wiggles' book -- fifty of the true stories that tell about his life, and our life together -- is coming along, though not as much "on paper" as I'd thought. The outline is done, and it's being written when the time is right and inspiration prompts me to sit down and write. There are so many memories of Wiggles Blue Heeler, so many precious moments and times of joy and adventure, countless times that my heart holds dear. Even having picked fifty to share, there are myriad more swirling about in my brain.

It's important that the book be right, because it will be part of Wiggles' legacy as well as a tool toward changing perceptions of visual impairment.

On this late February afternoon, as I slog around outside, shoveling ice and snow, my thoughts are of Wiggles Blue Heeler. The lump in my throat remains, tears still sting my eyes (though they may not fall as much, they are still 'right there'), and my vision still looks for him. The sweetest one -- the Australian Cattle Dog / ACD / Blue Heeler named Wiggles Blue Heeler, upon whose countenance God blessed with utmost patience, love, loyalty, and so much more -- is safe in my soul. Even as my eyes miss his footprints, his precious physical self in and around our home and yard and little pickup truck, he is still yet ... here.

For more than twelve years -- which seem like a heartbeat in time, and flew by so fast, so fast -- this place on Planet Earth was our home. Now I know that it didn't matter where we were, because wherever that was, was home to us. Wiggles Blue Heeler was happy to be with me. I was happy to be with him.

Wiggles' book -- fifty chapters, fifty miracles -- will tell of a life lived to the fullest, in total faith and utter love. May I be guided to tell his story well!