When Ida called and asked me to write some words in Bafi’s memory I got a feeling I was faced with the hardest task in my life. Not because I were lost for words, but because of the pain due to her absence.
And who was Bafi?
Coton de Tulear, a small, white, fluffy ball for which Ida and Vilma looked after like a princess. Which in fact she was… clean and groomed, always up for dog assisted intervention.
Her brown eyes and always neat hair caught your attention. She drew people closer, they’d ask questions and wanted to pet her. Just with her presence she brought smiles on peoples’ faces.
She often made me laugh. I remember the time when Ida and our dogs enrolled in Rally Obedience. But Bafi was not interested at all. All she wanted was play with Lara. Otherwise following Ida everywhere, Bafi would sit at the polygon and observe Ida. In the end they had to practice to heel. But one look at Bafi made Ida soften up and she just couldn’t be angry at her.
Bafi was the happiest when in Ida’s lap where she always quickly fell asleep. Trust between them two was as great as was the love. They were a therapy pair.
When we came over for a visit, Bafi and Lara were overjoyed. Bafi tried all she could to make Lara play with her and they were best friends, so to speak. The moment she entered the door, Lara would run up the stairs and look for Bafi.
And then that day came…when Bafi quietly left us. Much too soon.
We always say that there’s something good in every little thing, even in a bad one. I was thinking about this a lot. Why did Bafi have to go so soon? What was her mission here?
And one day the answer came … Our life is caught on a fast lane, bringing many nice things every day, yet also a lot of stress. And Bafi was an example of calmness. She was going her own easy way, regardless of things surrounding her. She did the things she loved and did them when she felt like it. But everything she did, she did it calmly. That’s how Bafi was.
On Friday Ida and I had Paws’ hour, a dog assisted therapy in the kindergarten with the youngest age group. We took our Lara to Ida’s place in the morning and Ida brought her Medi and Lara to the kindergarten. For the first time after Bafi was gone. I asked Ida how it went and she told me how Lara ran up the stairs looking for…
We did our work in the kindergarten and then Ida took Lara back to her place. I went to collect her after work and I too ran up the stairs, opened the door and there was Medi, there was Lara, but the little white fluffy was not there anymore. In that moment I felt an incredible void. And Ida said:’ Look where I keep Bafi.’ On the shelf I saw a small white urn. And again a thought ran through my mind…that Bafi was gone.
Bafi is running happily on the meadow somewhere over the rainbow. And she will be even happier if we try to live a more peaceful, calm life and if we stop now and then to do the things we love doing. If we are only that what we are.
Bafi knows that Ida, Vilma and Medi miss her tremendously. That also other people and dogs miss her. She left great emptiness behind her, but life goes on. Bafi was the one and only. And she always will be in our hearts and mind.
Nataša with Lara
I spent a quiet winter 2012/2013 with my dogs Bafi and Medi.
But on the 5th March 2013 at noon my world shattered. My beloved Bafi was gone, much too soon and I’m beginning to realize just how much she meant to me.
Your little white paws left great and irreplaceable steps behind.
Ida with Medi