Rocky’s Eulogy
Massapoag Pond, Lunenburg, MA
October 11, 2006
It’s fitting that we are here today at sunset, given
that Rocky’s biological mother was named Evening
Hope. His biological father was Carrie’s Holway
Rally, but we all know that his true parents were Frank
& Dale. And Rocky couldn’t have been luckier.
Rocky was born on March 17, 1995 in Arion, Iowa. He was a
St. Patrick’s Day puppy, and shared his birthday with
Dale.
After he was born, Rocky was shipped to “Pet
Menagerie”, at the Greendale Mall in Worcester. Frank
and Dale had a friend that worked there at the time
and he told them that there was a great
Golden Retriever in the store and that they should
come have a look. And a look was all it took. Frank &
Dale brought their new puppy home on Aug. 13, 1995 and
named him Rocky. While we all think of Rocky as a country
dog, he began his life with Frank & Dale in Worcester,
as a city puppy. Ever the adventurous type, twice Rocky
ventured off to explore his new neighborhood in Worcester.
Both times, Dale found him wandering, luckily just a few
streets away. But Rocky knew he had a great home and loving
parents, so he never left Frank & Dale’s side
again.
In those early days, when Dale would come home from work,
he and Rocky would head outside to play. Rocky loved to
play, and became quite the Frisbee expert.
As a puppy, Rocky also began his life long love affair with
riding in the car. Or truck, as the case may be. When Frank
& Dale were house hunting, Rocky would spend hours on
end riding around with them, checking out possible new
homes. When they went to Charlton to look at some raw land,
Rocky started exploring and found a dam with a good flow of
water pouring over it. He proceeded to jump in and the
current started to carry him downstream. Next it was Dale
jumping into the water, to rescue Rocky about a hundred
feet downstream.
In February of 1999, Rocky moved to Lunenburg. Thankfully
for all of us, he brought Frank & Dale with him to his
new home and pond. As soon as the ice on Massapoag melted
that first spring, Rocky was in the water. He loved the
water, even from his first exposure to it at Frank’s
brother’s house. Rocky was chasing John &
Joanne’s dog around their pool, and proceeded to fall
in.
Rocky spent many a day supervising all the construction
projects around the house that Frank & Dale always have
going. Usually he’d be content to just sit and watch,
but every now and again he would look for a little
attention. That was Rocky, never demanding, just happy to
be noticed and petted and loved. And there was never any
shortage of that in his life. He made friends with
everyone. Under any circumstance. After the move to
Lunenburg, Rocky set out to meet his new neighbors. Gail
was out gardening, her head covered in bug netting. So
Rocky wandered over to make her acquaintance, unannounced,
by sticking his face in front of hers as she worked. No one
is really sure who startled who more.
Rocky loved his fishing trips on the
pond with Dale, and he had three favorite spots where Dale
would always take him. As they approached each one, Rocky
would start to get a bit antsy in the boat, as he knew that
these were the places that Dale would let him out of the
boat so he could run in the woods.
This past summer, Rocky took his longest road trip and
loved every minute of the 14 hour drive to Nova Scotia,
where he enjoyed a vacation with Frank & Dale, and
spent many happy hours with Karen Bean’s Basset
Hound, Prudy. I’m told they were quite a couple, and
that Prudy followed Rocky around like a love sick puppy.
Karen told me that her dogs were envious of Rocky, as he
was the only one allowed to roll in the sand on the beach
and then come right inside and plunk himself down on the
floor. Her dogs are usually power washed before being
allowed back indoors.
Some interesting facts about Rocky:
He loved ALL food, except for most veggies, and potato
chips.
He loved it when Frank would head to the fridge after work
for a snack of cheese, cause he knew that Frank would share
some with his “little buddy”.
He had a run in with a rabid raccoon last a year ago this
past September. Probably while trying to make friends with
it. I’m sure he figured that at least it wasn’t
wearing bug netting!
And, he learned the finer points about adult beverages from
Jackie, and Rocky’s favorite quickly became a
Grasshopper.
Last week, just before Dale took Rocky on his final ride to
the Ayer Animal Hospital, they took one last walk around
the yard. Rocky took one last dip in the pond, checked in
on his newest friends – the chickens – and
cocked his leg up to take one last pee in the yard that he
called home.
He was then laid to rest, but his memory will remain strong
with Frank, Dale, and all of us who loved him.
Rest in peace, Rocky. You’ll never be forgotten.
Bruce D. Lawrence