A *Golden* Treasure Box

[R4Goldens@aol.com]

Dear fellow Golden lovers,
I received this story recently and thought it would be nice to share.
Enjoy!! [BTW -- I do not know whether it is true or not.]
And Happy Mother's Day to all the Brier Pups' Moms out there!
Best,
Yanna

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Jill and her husband Jack had a Golden Retriever named Lucky. Lucky
was a real character. Whenever Jill and Jack had company come for a
weekend visit they would warn their friends not to leave their
suitcases open because Lucky would help himself to whatever struck his
fancy. Inevitably, someone would forget and something would then come
up missing. Jill or Jack would go to Lucky's toy box in the basement
and there the treasure would be, amid all of Lucky's favorite toys.
Lucky always stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very
particular that his toys stay in the box.

It happened that Jill found out she had breast cancer. Something told
her she was going to die of this disease as she was just sure it was
fatal. Jill scheduled the double mastectomy, fear riding her
shoulders. The night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled
with Lucky. A thought struck her -- what would happen to Lucky?
Although the three-year-old Golden liked Jack he was Jill's dog
through and through. If I die Lucky will be abandoned, Jill thought.
He won't understand that I didn't want to leave him. The thought made
her sadder than thinking of her own death.

The double mastectomy was harder on Jill than her doctors had
anticipated and she needed to be hospitalized for over two weeks. Jack
took Lucky for his evening walk faithfully but the dog just drooped,
whining and miserable. But finally the day came for Jill to leave the
hospital. When she arrived home Jill was so exhausted she couldn't
even make it up the steps to her bedroom, so her husband made her
comfortable on the couch and left her to nap. Lucky stood watching
Jill but he didn't come to her when she called. It made her sad but
sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.

When Jill woke for a second she couldn't understand what was wrong.
She couldn't move her head and her body felt heavy and hot. Panic soon
gave way to laughter though when Jill realized the problem. She was
covered -- literally blanketed in every treasure Lucky owned! While
she has slept the sorrowing dog had made trip after trip to the basement and 
back,
bringing his beloved mistress his favorite things in life. He had
covered her with his love.

In turn, Jill forgot about dying. Instead she and Lucky began living
again, walking further and further together every night. It has been
12 years now and Jill is still cancer-free. And, Golden Lucky? Well,
he still steals treasures and stashes them in his toy box. But, Jill
remains his greatest treasure, of course.