QUEENIE AND THE PETUNIAS

This is story number 33 (out of 50) from my book, My Walk with the Lord, published Nov 03.

Matthew 5.4 "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted."

A few weeks after Mama died (Jan 01), a beautiful golden retriever showed up at my house. She had obviously belonged to someone but my brother-in-law, Joe, who lives nearby, and I had no inkling to whom she belonged. Obvious, too, was her impending motherhood. This dog was the kindest and sweetest natured dog that I have ever seen. Her personality reminded me of Mama. I named her Queenie because she looked like royalty.

She was a neighborhood dog. Queenie would make the rounds every day to visit with the neighbors and get her treats. Mrs. Kelly, who I wrote about earlier, especially liked Queenie.

Soon she had eight beautiful puppies. After they were weaned, we had no trouble finding homes for these lovely pups, half lab and half golden retriever. My nephew kept one and named him Cocoa.

On May 20, 03, I had taken Cocoa and Queenie on their morning run. I would drive the golfcart and they would have a ball running, chasing squirrels and birds. That morning, Queenie even chased up a wild turkey. We came back, and I was talking to my sister, Joanne, when we saw a truck come by and heard a loud thump. Normally, Queenie didn't chase vehicles, but she ran right in front of that truck and was killed. I buried her and placed a little white cross over the grave and wrote on it, "Queenie, May 20, 03; Sent from God."

Queenie appeared right after Mama died, and I believe that was one of the many ways God comforted us in our time of grief. When Shirley, my sister, and Joe saw the date on the cross, Joe said "Today, May 20 would have been my Daddy's birthday. He died in 1970." Shirley said, "Today, May 20, in 1986, was the day Granny Winn (Mama's mama) died." Queenie's grave site will soon have beautiful flowers growing on it. I'm asking God to let them grow in the memory of what Queenie meant to us.

About the same time Queenie showed up, I noticed some flowers blooming around my electricity pole. I took a closer look as I had not planted any flowers there, and it was unusual to see greenery in late January. In early February, they bloomed again. They were petunias, one of Mama's favorite flowers. Despite the cold and the frost, they continued to bloom. Now, over two years after Mama died, I have them growing everywhere. Mama planted many seeds in her lifetime. I believe that this was God's way of expressing His comfort to us over the loss of Mama. It also showed and reflected the beauty of her life.

James 1.17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."

Irvin L. Rozier, Captain (Ret), US Army still serving as a soldier in God's Army

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