Beautiful story..........

[Myamom]

Dog's adopted family takes her to Mr. Brock's grave for Christmas
http://www.heraldonline.com/front/story/1807943.html

By Andrew Dys - adys@heraldonline.com
CHESTER -- There is no sign that says "county cemetery for the poor." Just a
chain-link fence along a country road north of Chester. A few markers with
names seen from the shoulder of Darby Road and some plastic flowers. Most of
the flowers are faded. Fallen leaves from a nearby grove of trees, oaks and
a few maples, litter the field.
Mounds of earth show somebody is underneath the brown grass and the piled
dirt for eternity. The cemetery is down the street from closed industrial
factories that died, too. The cemetery is where the broke and the alone in
life in Chester County are buried in death.
The 25 or so graves run in a row, from the road back to the woods, along one
side. The first one has a little metal marker that says only, "Infant Nunez
2003."

<http://media.heraldonline.com/smedia...standalone.pro
d_affiliate.6.JPG>
A small few have headstones or markers. Webb and Mills and Buchanan and
Worthy. Mendoza and Stanley, Coit and Austin and Hyman. Stewart and Dixon. A
few have plastic flowers of hearts and circles still bright in the
almost-winter light. A single grave has a wooden cross, about 2 feet tall,
the whitewash fading to gray in the weather. The cross leans a bit after
uncountable years.
Some mounds have no name.
Almost at the back is one etched gray gravestone flat against the earth.
Near it lay faded plastic flowers that were once purple and yellow and pink
but now are the grayish colors of sorrow. A tall man and his wife crunched
over the leaves to find the grave of a man they had never seen or met. This
was their first time at the cemetery. They walked in silence, except for the
crunch of feet on leaves.
The man held a rust-colored dog on a leash. The dog was restless but did not
pull too much. The dog seemed to know where it was going. The dog did not
bark or make even the tiniest of sounds.
Sandy, the dog, had been to that cemetery once before, more than eight
months ago. The man who had owned her was under that stone. Somehow, Sandy
knew where to go.
The grave showed that the person who rested there lived 81 years and some
months and was once in the Army. A military hitch, even if you are old and
have nothing and live by just your wits and a few hundred bucks a month in
benefits, means the veteran gets a free headstone.
The lady bent over. She placed a poinsettia next to the stone. The pot was
covered in brilliant flaming gold wrapping. She said out loud, "Willie L.
Brock. Here's Mr. Brock, Sandy."
The dog didn't try to run. The dog went to the grave and sniffed. The dog
circled around, like dogs do. The dog sat there next to the gravestone, then
sat on top of the gravestone.
Sandy the dog stuck out her tongue.
Sandy wagged her tail and her tongue lolled, and the cemetery seemed less
desolate, the graves less forlorn. The people buried there were less
forgotten. Sandy did it with her wags and her tongue, because Sandy and Mr.
Brock used to be a team. Sandy was Mr. Brock's companion until he died in
March.
And now, the family that adopted Sandy from the Chester County animal
shelter after Brock died, all these months later, brought Sandy to see Mr.
Brock because it is almost Christmas.
"Sandy is part of our family now, and she was Mr. Brock's family, so that
makes Mr. Brock our family now, too," said the woman, Jennifer Sexton. She
is a science teacher at Harold C. Johnson Middle School in York. Her
husband, who held the leash, is Eddie. He's a supervisor with the York
County Department of Social Services.
"Sandy is a great dog," Eddie Sexton said.
Willie L. Brock was a loner, a legendary character around Chester who went
everywhere on a motorized scooter with Sandy at his side. When Mr. Brock
died, his tiny obituary listed Sandy as his sole survivor. I wrote in The
Herald about how several people in Chester, a nurse and a cop, a lady and a
preacher, had befriended Brock over the years. They helped him when they
could if he would take help, and Sandy always was in the mix.
Brock saved Sandy - a 3-year-old labrador and God knows what else of a mix
of a mutt - from the dog pound. Brock had two other mutts adopted from the
shelter before this Sandy. Both were named Sandy, too.
Terry Tinker, the county coroner, had his office pay for Brock's casket.
Tinker and few others who knew Brock held a memorial service when he was
buried.
"Mr. Brock didn't have anything but that dog, but he deserved a decent
burial," Tinker said. "Everybody deserves that. And that dog? Never were
apart, Mr. Brock and the dog."
When Brock died in March, Sandy was sent back to the pound because there was
nobody to take her in. The story of Brock and Sandy ran on a Sunday. The
Sextons were at the shelter to adopt Sandy before the doors even opened
Monday.
"It was Palm Sunday when I learned about Mr. Brock and Sandy," Jennifer
Sexton said. "A year before to the day, one of my three dogs died. All were
saves from shelters."
In the past eight months, Sandy has lived with the Sextons, their son,
Landon, and their two dogs, Baylor and Carolina. Brock had trained Sandy
well, kept her fit and healthy.
"Sandy fit right in," said Eddie Sexton. "She's a happy dog."
A few weeks ago, the Sextons decided to have Sandy start training to be a
therapy dog. Soon, when the training is complete, Sandy will go to nursing
homes and hospitals to visit the sick and the old.
People just like Willie L. Brock.
At Brock's grave, Jennifer Sexton leaned over and picked up the faded
flowers someone had left. She put them into a grocery bag to be thrown away.
The fresh poinsettia with garnet red petals looked so much more beautiful
next to the stone with Sandy sitting on top of it.
"Every Christmas, we will bring Sandy here, and in April on Mr. Brock's
birthday," Jennifer Sexton said. "That's what families do. Visit the grave
of someone who is part of the family. Sandy, Mr. Brock and us. Family."
Andrew Dys - 803-329-4065

[lnsmdove]

Sniff Thank you for sharing that amazing story. Extra dog hugs for everyone.

Susan
Grace, GSD

[AnnaRiley]

Thank you for posting that. It's right here in SC. They understand so much more than I think we will ever know - atleast in my life time.

[sleachy]

My foster cat's owner died and I have often thought of taking him to his visit his owner's grave.

[Kayos and Havoc]

Oh wow that is an awesome story! Thanks for sharing it.