The one year anniversary of Sara’s death was the 19th. As you know from previous posts, that is the Yahrzeit in the Jewish religion, which represents the opportunity to remember and honor someone who has died.
The weather for the 19th was predicted to be rainy, so those of us who knew Sara stood in the cemetery at the beginning of the dog walk path created by the volunteers who love this place as much as we do, and talked about her for a few minutes. There were some jokes, some shared memories, and I said a few words.
Then we all reached into the box that has contained her ashes for a year now and spread them around the cemetery so she could rest with the animals she loved so much. I sprinkled her ashes on the path, on the areas around the path, the woodpile, along the treelines. I remembered walking back here with her sometimes, a cigarette dangling from her mouth, talking about a particular animal or person or just ordinary stuff that makes up average conversations. Sara could be charming, interesting, and frightening in the same sentence. Quite a talent. I remembered some of her funnier lines and how she could size up people just about instantly.

I watched Kerry and Juan and Marcos and everyone sharing in the spreading of her ashes and it dawned on me how proud of all of us she would be, and what a great organization Pets Alive has become thanks to her devotion.
Finally, I remembered the animals I’ve loved here over the past eight years, how much they’ve meant to me and how much they’ve changed my life. In remembering Sara I’d like to remember some of them.

Ballou. What a great dog. He developed cancer and I used to take him to Tufts in Worcester, Mass. a couple of times a week for treatment. We used to stay at the Red Roof Inn and have dinner together.
Sweet, gentle and very funny, Ballou eventually succumbed to the cancer.
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Bandit. My Bandit. He’s what got me into all of this. I lost Teddy, my senior German Shepherd mix that we saved from a kill shelter in Massachusetts, and came across Pets Alive on the Internet. Shortly thereafter we met the abrupt, chain smoking Sara Whalen, who almost didn’t give us Bandit because we were late for the appointment (MapQuest directions are wrong).
She told me that Bandit was too plain and would never get adopted. He was anything but plain in my house. What a wonderful, sweet, friendly dog that everyone loved. He passed away from cancer a few years ago.
Baron. What would a remembrance page be without Baron? Kerry’s Baron. What a character. One of the funniest dogs I’ve ever seen. Could barely walk, half-deaf and half-blind, he still managed to escape and have a 12 hour jaunt in the woods behind the Clairs’ home.
I always said that the way he moved he looked like two guys in a dog suit moving in opposite directions. Rest in peace Slick.

Jason. Talk about characters. He was one. He would bark his head off at you to see if he could scare you away. He was quite imposing, too. Once you got closer he was friendly and playful. He lived at the Brick House, was the office dog, and then finally went to the gray house.
Unfortunately, like many Shepherds, his hips failed.
Laddie. I LOVED Laddie. He was like an elderly uncle that was a little off but a lot of fun. I spent a lot of time with Laddie and was really attached to him. He lived to 16 or 17 years old, and he was a sweet, friendly, lovable yet confused old man. I actually named one of my businesses after him.
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Ling Ling. We all have our favorites, and Ling was one of Kerry’s. She mellowed with age, and unfortunately died before Kerry could give her the home she deserved.
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Louie. Louie’s time was up at the Bridgeport, Connecticut shelter, a place where I used to volunteer. I used to visit Louie every week when I was here, and grew quite fond of him. He used to live in front of the brick house. As his health failed it was more and more difficult for him to get up to greet me, so I leaned over the fence and petted him, talked to him and really enjoyed his company. He was a great dog.
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Marmaduke. Duke was a retired carriage horse, and he was a big boy. I was afraid of horses way back when, and one day, after my chores were done I went to Sara and asked her if there was anything else I could do. She tossed me a brush and other horse implements and said “yeah…go groom Marmaduke.” Yikes. I was scared out of my mind. I went to the barn, trudged out there and started grooming him. We made friends and visited him without fail every time I was at Pets Alive.
October. October came to Pets Alive as a shy cat, and over the years became a volunteer favorite as she came out of her shell. She was a sweetheart and is missed.
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Yogi. Yogi was another one of my favorite dogs. She was very vocal, and her “growling” scared away many people, including potential adopters. She lived in the kitchen with April, and they were great friends. She lost her back legs to cancer later in life, but she maintained her disposition and was greatly loved by the people who work here and volunteers.
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Take a look at these faces. So many animals were saved over those thirty odd years, and so many are still being saved because of people like Kerry Clair, the wonderful underpaid overworked staff, and because of the generosity of the people who support us — people who work hard for every dollar and somehow find a way to share it with us.
I always knew that Bandit somehow knew that he had been saved, and was grateful. We are so grateful to everyone else for helping us to honor Sara’s memory and the memories of the animals that have passed through and passed on.