We found him through a newspaper add and
made the trip to Texas to pick him up. On
the way home we were trying to think of a
name for him when we passed Griggsby's Auto
Salvage. For whatever reason, the name
seemed perfect for him. At first we called
him Gator Griggsby, but the Gator part just
didn't fit him. Through the years he came to
be know as Griggs. For sixteen years he
filled our life with joy. He gave so much
love and in return he only asked to be our
side. He loved the outdoors. One of the
things he really liked was riding in the
truck with his head out the window. He loved
to feel the wind in his face. His ears would
float like kites in the wind. In his latter
years he decided it was fun to bark at all
the cars that went by. The bigger the
vehicle the louder the bark. He loved to go
fishing too. The uncontrolled excitement of
watching me pull in a fish caused him to
take many unplanned trips overboard. Luckily
he was good swimmer. There were many times
we
had to stop fighting a fish to snatch ole
Griggs out of the lake. He would shake off
the lake water and be right back up on the
edge of the boat waiting for the fish.
Eating a chicken gizzard with a catfish hook
in it or getting a treble hook imbedded in
his bottom never slowed even him down. He
loved life and loved to be loved. The only
thing that slowed Griggs down was age. In
the past few years he lost almost all of his
site and hearing. Even that only slowed him
down a little. Even though his eyes were
glazed, the sparkle never left. Like so many
of us, his hearing loss seemed to be
selective at times. He grew old slowly and
gracefully. Age robbed him of his energy
but not his spirit. He just looked at life
from a different perspective. He spent less
time chasing squirrels and more time just
contently watching them. His days were
filled mostly with dream filled naps and
frequent trips to the nearest bush for the
other matters. He seemed content. He asked
for little besides a helpful hand up so he
could be on the couch or bed with us. In the
end it was the thing that he gave so much of
that took him from us. His heart, so small
in size, but so tremendously full of love,
could no longer keep up with the puppy
inside of him. On Thursday, we had to say
goodbye to our Griggs. Both Angela and I
were able to be there during his final
moments of life. He laid contently on my
lap, like he had for so many years
and peacefully passed away. Our lives seem
so empty without him. He was our best friend
and we will miss him more than he could ever
imagine.
Griggsby Collins
Feb 10, 1991 - April 5, 2007