Ginger's charms

Today, I made a necklace with the tags from Ginger's collar. The back of her Planet Dog tag is engraved with her name, my name, and my contact info. And I just noticed that the drawing looks like her.

Behind that, the green rabies tag hasn't retained much of its original bell shape. It's worn from years of clanging, but I attached both tags because they jingle. If I jump up and down, I can make the same sound Gigi made when she trotted around. (Or, I could just shake the necklace.) And of course I added a heart.

I got the idea for this necklace from Lisa Havelin, a metalsmith who makes reliquaries to memorialize your pet. I've been trying to think of ways to do that; it helps me deal with feeling sad.

Yesterday I went to sleep with one of Ginger's favorite toys, her fleece buddy. It was covered with dog hair and crusty drool. A few swipes with a wet paper towel took care of that, but I don't feel the need to keep any whiskers or tufts of fur. The tags will do just fine.

By the way, here's a dusty photo of her that's on my bulletin board at work. Carole, BeadStyle's art director, says this is her favorite photo. (We think Gigi looks like a dachshund. I suspect she was a shepherd/hound — beagle or dachshund? — mix.) She looks pensive here; I love the slightly furrowed brow. If you click on the photo, you can see her squeaky pork chop in the background. She loved to run around the living room, chomping and squeaking and trying to get you to chase her.

Okay. I think that's enough about Gigi for today. (She'd get annoyed by too much attention.) Thank you for all the poems, cards, hugs, and phone calls — and for reading about her. Today definitely felt better than yesterday.