Until We Meet Again, Darling Sabre Baby

Sabre was the perfect dog! For twelve years she has showered us with unconditional love and entertained us with her quirky ways. When I first got Sabre, she fit in the palm of my hand, with her head hanging off a tad. She was the runt of the litter, and I have a thing for runts--my whole family does. She was not at the top of her puppy training class, but as time went by, she graduated with honors from her "teenage" doggie classes and proved to be an amazing dog. Even in an apartment while I was working in NYC, she was a dream. She loved the elevator and all the people who got in... though there were some frightened faces when the elevator doors opened at times. The fear would subside after two seconds of them being next to Sabe.

We met the most amazing friends together. Stephanie Burke was first know by us as Hunter's mom. Steph, Hunter, Sabe and I would hang out at the dog park together for hours. Steph is still one of my dearest friends, and she helped me comfort Sabe in her last hours with us. Heather, Mitch and Rosie (aka Rosalita) were also our city buddies, as were Letitia, Sanjay and May. Our cocktail hours and dinner parties consisted of good friends, food, drink AND our dogs running together in our apartments. All of us dog-sat for one another, and all of them picked up a lot of slack for me with my work travels and were second moms/dads to my Sabre--taking her in for me when I had to be away on many occasions.

There are so many friends in our lives who loved spending time with Sabre. I often wondered if they invited me over because they liked my company or if it really was that they adored Sabe. To name a few...Stacey, Jerome and Gussy (and now Elyssa); Tony, Tami and the kids (all of them and the dogs), Lyra, Rahman (and now Sophie and Jake), Debbi, Bob and the girls... I could go on here forever! Even the O'Briens took Sabre for me during business trips BEFORE Fred and I were married. I don't think it was so much they loved me, as it was that they fell in love with Sabe and her silly ways. My sister and my parents loved her sometimes (maybe often) more than me, and did their fair share of helping me out with her. I do recall that even Caroline helped me with doggie duty (aka doody). And they greeted her first, before acknowledging me when they came to visit. Not sure if that was because she rushed them at the door, or if they really prefer her over me... I guess it will remain a mystery.

As you can tell, Sabre loved people...in fact she thought she was a person. She would share breadsticks with Genevieve as we had our girl chats and would probably take a swig of her champagne too if she had a chance. She stole the goat cheese clean off the cheese plate while Andreas and Elanna visited us in Philadelphia without a single trace of evidence. She apparently didn't care for the bleu or the brie--she left those there and didn't disturb the fruit and nuts that were adjacent to it... In fact, it was such a clean steal, I really thought one of our guest REALLY, REALLY liked goat cheese and ate it all! And by the way, that was very unusual. Sabre only ate when she was invited to by someone. I spent many hours training her so that she would only eat when I said the word, "okay." I mean, I could leave food there for an hour or longer and she wouldn't take it. That night, I guess the cheese was too much of a temptation. She is after all, my daughter and I too LOVE cheese. Sabre slept on my bed like a human--her head on the pillow and her feet at the foot of the bed. Of course, she only slept on my bed while I was at work. You see, she wasn't allowed on the bed, and I would shut the door to the bedroom before I left for work. Sabre would use her nose to open the door and then get on the bed while I was away. When she heard the front door open, she would leap off the bed to get onto her bed, then give me a look that said, "It wasn't me," when I came in and noticed the indentation on the pillow and the dog hair all over my duvet. And by the way, the bed would still be warm...

Sabre was a German Shepherd, which meant that she liked to herd. She was the most comfortable when EVERYONE stayed in the same room together. If someone was in a different room or left the room, she would get up and circle around them or follow them, pleading with them to come back and join the group. I think Mark has a good story about that... Jet lag was not an excuse for someone not to join everyone in the same room.

She shared my shoe passion--she loved shoes. She could often be found walking around with a shoe in her mouth. She was very careful and didn't chew them (can't say that about the first two years, but the last ten she was an angel), she would just like to carry them around. She wasn't as picky about the kind of shoe--it didn't have to be a pair of Manolo Blahnik, it could be a stinky pair (not mine, of course) of sneakers, or a flip flop...any shoe would do. Sabre also loved the bath tub, though indifferent to an actual bath, she loved the coolness of the tub and slept many a night in the tub. I won't mention who, but one of my friends was over for dinner and had to use the facilities and was startled by a Sabre head poking out of the shower curtain while they were attending to their business. I did mention that Sabre was quirky, no?

Sabre talked Chewbacca and was darn good at it. The sounds that came out of her mouth were hysterical! I mean, I should have taken her to Comic Con to excite all the Star Wars fans. I am actually surprised that Gayley never asked us to attend. And she, like her mother, always had to have the last word. Though, I would allow Sabre to win an argument sometimes, which usually concluded with Sabre getting that treat or butt rub that she was demanding.

I could go on and on about Sabre and all the adventures we have had together, through all the stages of my life--first job, first house, career changes, sky scrapper apartments, MAJOR life changes, finding myself again, marriage, motherhood... She was there and steadfast through it all--never judging, always happy, and completely devoted.

Sabre's golden years were spent sharing her mommy's attention with my son, Liam. I will never forget walking into the kitchen to find Sabre lying on the floor in front of her food bowl, with Liam next to her. One of his arms was around her neck, the other was reaching for the food in the bowl so he could feed her one piece at a time. Sabre's life changed when Liam was born--she wasn't my only baby anymore. She gracefully accepted it and loved Liam as I loved him, without a hesitation. We all can learn something from that--I know I can. I will try to be more like her every day of my life. That is the legacy that she leaves behind--selflessness.

Thank you for all you have given me, all you have taught me, and your unfailing love. My heart aches for you. You are so missed. I love you, Sabre and will love you forever. I know I will see you again, but until then I will find comfort in knowing that you are still watching over me and my family from heaven.