We revealed the baby’s name this weekend with a live webcast but there were technical difficulties so a lot of the story behind it was missed by everyone. Her name is Rebecca Maye and it holds a huge amount of meaning. When we began our journey with dogs some 16 plus years ago, we had no idea what we were doing or how truly blessed we were. We certainly had no idea that journey would lead us to becoming horse people!
Our first dog, Ramirez, is still with us. He’s 16 years old and a fragile old man, but his health is good and we pray every day for another day with him. We got him a couple months after we were married in ’92. Life was interesting with a crazy, dominant, miniature pinscher puppy! The next year Scottie brought home the first in a long line of strays. We named him Jackson and shortly after him entering our world, along came a cattledog named Rebecca. So, we quickly went from having one small dog to having 3 dogs in a one bedroom apartment. A house was purchased and thus began our lives being devoted to animals.
Ramirez, Jackson and Rebecca became known as our Holy Trinity. These three were the original. These three taught us everything. These three awakened our compassion for the animal world. It is rare for a person to have even one dog of such dimension, but to have three was outstanding. They put up with a lot from us in their lifetimes. Rebecca and Jack were the alpha leaders of whatever pack we had but they loved Ramirez enough they let him think he was, too. Rebecca always had his back and Jack tolerated his attitude knowing he could take him out in an instant.
We lost Jackson to cancer in 2003. It was devastating to the entire household. He lived a dignified life on his terms and that was how he died. Rebecca became old overnight. The last year and a half of her life we considered her on hospice care. She had several things ailing her and we set up the household to accommodate her special needs. She and Ramirez were settled into our bedroom and we called it the Vintage Room. No other dogs were allowed to bother them in there. Rebecca had her bed on the floor next to ours and oftentimes Ramirez would be found asleep next to her. Everyday I would ask her if today was the day and she always said, nope, not today.
Thanksgiving of 2005 brought on a bad spell of vestibular disease in our old girl. She was estimated to be 15 or so. I came home to find her convulsing with blood coming out of her ear. The vet talked me through some things on the phone (after calming me down) and I left her as comfortably as I could knowing she may well be dead when we got back home. I had to get to my pet sitting clients and it really sucked! But, she was with Ramirez and on her own bed so that was giving me some solace. Scottie was the first one done for the night and he walked in the room fully expecting to find her passed away. She wasn’t! She raised her head up and graciously gave him the best kiss he’s ever had.
We always left the radio on for them and he noticed in this emotional moment the voice of an angel coming from it. The song was “Over the Rainbow” and he lost it at that point and had a good cry of relief with his special girl. Once he composed himself he frantically tried to figure out who the singer was. He’d never heard her before. He even tried calling the radio station. They finally said the name and it was Eva Cassidy. We quickly became Eva fans after hearing all her music and learning her tragic story (www.evacassidy.org). When it was finally Rebecca’s time in Oct. 2006 to join Jack at the Rainbow Bridge, it was Eva’s voice that sang her there. “Fields of Gold” is Rebecca’s song. I dare you to listen to it and not shed a tear. The sadness and loss we felt was also mixed with peace and we thank Eva Cassidy for that.
When it was time for a new cattledog to join our family there was only one name she could have – Eva. We experienced a lot of spiritual things that led us to finding BM April on the rescue website. We felt she had to take the name Cassidy so we had that connection. There really wasn’t a lot of debate as to what the baby’s name was going to be. The circle is now complete with her being Rebecca Maye. Saying her name makes us happy. We hope Rebecca and Jack are both watching over our girls and guiding them to be the best they can be. We are blessed again.
cassidyapril.com 