We chose to bury Zonde under the shade of an old peach tree, at the bottom of our garden
Nelson used an old dried milk powder tin as a mold to fashion the 'pedestal' for the cross
Her grave looks out onto the Western foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro .....Fellow dog lovers will agree with me, I’m sure, when I say that although you can have many wonderful dogs in your life, there are a few amongst them who touch your life in an extra special way and that when you lose them, you never really quite get over it.
My dog Zonde was one of these special dogs, (you can read about her when I first ‘introduced’ her to you on the blog over here) and I sadly lost her last year to cancer (you can read my post – probably the hardest one I’ve ever had to write – about losing her over here).
Justin and I chose her final resting place …. a cool corner at the bottom of our garden surrounded by a small banana plantation and in the shade of an old peach tree …. with views out over Kilimanjaro’s western foothills. I think she’s happy there …. when I wander down to visit her grave (which is not often, I must confess – I just find it too difficult) I talk to her and I feel a sense of peace come over me. But goodness, how I miss her still and writing this post brings the heartache and emptiness of losing her flooding back to me again ….
But I don’t want to make this post a sad one. I want to share with you (because I was overwhelmed by the number of blog comments and emails I got from all you wonderful people last year when I posted about losing her) the story behind the grave you see in the photo’s above.
Zonde was such a special dog, and I wanted to mark her grave so that one day – when I’m long gone – she would never be forgotten. I have often seen small cement gravestones and crosses for sale along the roadside, and I decided to buy one of these crosses for her grave. I asked Justin if he could organize the engraving for me, but he said that they don’t engrave them – they just paint onto them. I wrote out what I wanted them to paint on to the cross for me, (“Zonde – 1996 to 2008”) and gave Justin some money on his next day off, when he was planning to head off into one of the bigger villages near the farm for some shopping.
Apparently the person who paints the gravestones/crosses was a bit taken aback, hearing that this was a cross for the grave of a dog ! Although I had clearly written the instructions out, the painter decided to add “Born” and “Died” to the years (as a ‘special service’ and at no extra charge, Justin informed me !) and as he speaks no English he painted “Die 1996” and “Deth 2008” instead of “Born 1996” and “Died 2008”. I have just left it like that though, because I know what it means and – odd person that I am - I don’t feel right about changing it !
The following week, Justin asked me for some money to buy ‘a small packet of cement, Mama. Because we need to put cement around the base of the cross so that it stays in the ground’. I gave him the money and that Monday Nelson, one of our part time gardeners, began to erect the cross. I left him to it (as Justin was overseeing things) as they wanted me to see the ‘finished product’ once it was completely done. So, I was very surprised when they finally called me to have a look a couple of days later, to see that they had completely covered the grave with cement and made it into a ‘proper’ grave !
I had just wanted a simple cross and a ‘bare earth’ grave, with smooth rocks outlining it and I had planned to plant wild flowers over the top of it. All the graves where people are buried here look like this, and I also felt conscious of the fact that I my dog (viewed by many here to be a worthless – and sometimes despised – animal) was now buried in a ‘human’ grave.
But it is done now, and I realise that Nelson and Justin only planned it this way because they know how much I loved Zonde, and how much more than ‘just a dog’ she was to me.
So …. I have decided to be happy with the grave – and the thought behind it – and I now know for sure, that long after I have left this earth, Zonde will always be remembered ….. her final resting place nestled at the bottom of the garden in a place where I know she was truly happy to have lived out the final years of her life.
My dog Zonde was one of these special dogs, (you can read about her when I first ‘introduced’ her to you on the blog over here) and I sadly lost her last year to cancer (you can read my post – probably the hardest one I’ve ever had to write – about losing her over here).
Justin and I chose her final resting place …. a cool corner at the bottom of our garden surrounded by a small banana plantation and in the shade of an old peach tree …. with views out over Kilimanjaro’s western foothills. I think she’s happy there …. when I wander down to visit her grave (which is not often, I must confess – I just find it too difficult) I talk to her and I feel a sense of peace come over me. But goodness, how I miss her still and writing this post brings the heartache and emptiness of losing her flooding back to me again ….
But I don’t want to make this post a sad one. I want to share with you (because I was overwhelmed by the number of blog comments and emails I got from all you wonderful people last year when I posted about losing her) the story behind the grave you see in the photo’s above.
Zonde was such a special dog, and I wanted to mark her grave so that one day – when I’m long gone – she would never be forgotten. I have often seen small cement gravestones and crosses for sale along the roadside, and I decided to buy one of these crosses for her grave. I asked Justin if he could organize the engraving for me, but he said that they don’t engrave them – they just paint onto them. I wrote out what I wanted them to paint on to the cross for me, (“Zonde – 1996 to 2008”) and gave Justin some money on his next day off, when he was planning to head off into one of the bigger villages near the farm for some shopping.
Apparently the person who paints the gravestones/crosses was a bit taken aback, hearing that this was a cross for the grave of a dog ! Although I had clearly written the instructions out, the painter decided to add “Born” and “Died” to the years (as a ‘special service’ and at no extra charge, Justin informed me !) and as he speaks no English he painted “Die 1996” and “Deth 2008” instead of “Born 1996” and “Died 2008”. I have just left it like that though, because I know what it means and – odd person that I am - I don’t feel right about changing it !
The following week, Justin asked me for some money to buy ‘a small packet of cement, Mama. Because we need to put cement around the base of the cross so that it stays in the ground’. I gave him the money and that Monday Nelson, one of our part time gardeners, began to erect the cross. I left him to it (as Justin was overseeing things) as they wanted me to see the ‘finished product’ once it was completely done. So, I was very surprised when they finally called me to have a look a couple of days later, to see that they had completely covered the grave with cement and made it into a ‘proper’ grave !
I had just wanted a simple cross and a ‘bare earth’ grave, with smooth rocks outlining it and I had planned to plant wild flowers over the top of it. All the graves where people are buried here look like this, and I also felt conscious of the fact that I my dog (viewed by many here to be a worthless – and sometimes despised – animal) was now buried in a ‘human’ grave.
But it is done now, and I realise that Nelson and Justin only planned it this way because they know how much I loved Zonde, and how much more than ‘just a dog’ she was to me.
So …. I have decided to be happy with the grave – and the thought behind it – and I now know for sure, that long after I have left this earth, Zonde will always be remembered ….. her final resting place nestled at the bottom of the garden in a place where I know she was truly happy to have lived out the final years of her life.
