Our Maggie Mae, She loved unconditionally ...

We lost our baby girl, Maggie Mae. Although I'd had her for almost 13 years when I met Dave, she quickly fell in love with him too and welcomed him into our little family! God blessed us with almost 15 glorious years -- Maggie truly reflected God's unconditional love for us.

She loved to be outdoors with me and to help with the gardening – here she takes a break to enjoy the beauty of the garden.

One of Maggie's favorite places in the house perched in her chair watching the activities in the park across the street and waiting for Dave to come home from work. It was daily routine for her.

Maggie was always about comfort and loved to sleep on the back of the loveseat while I worked nearby – Christmas 2006.

Like me, Maggie was a sunny, warm-weather girl, although the rare Texas snow intrigued her.

Maggie had a hilarious personality and one of the more entertaining things she did was sit on the arm of the furniture as if she were sitting atop a horse in saddle. And she loved to watch TV – here, I caught her watching Nightline.

In 1999, Maggie met Charger, a Jack Russell Terrier who had a very unusual bawk, we soon found out he was from the east coast. They became best friends and truly loved each other. Here, they're shown on one of their favorite dates, staring at Maggie's dog food bag anxiously awaiting their treats, after a romp at the park. This is one of my favorite photos as it captures the spirit of these two. Wagging tails and happy hearts!

Before we bought the house, Maggie and I lived in this awesome apartment complex with our first floor patio adjacent to a great little lake. We fed the ducks each morning watching the sunrise on the lake and did the same thing each evening watching the changing colors of the sky.

However, when the ducks came onto our patio, they tended to create havoc knocking stuff over and making too much noise with their quacks; Maggie didn't understand why I wouldn't let her show them the way back out.

That same apartment complex was very animal friendly, they especially loved dogs and began holding an annual party where the fur babies could dress up and bring their people. The first year 1999, we decided to go on the day of the party, so I quickly made Maggie a Hawaiian Girl outfit. But some of the other dogs in fancy costumes made fun of hers. Maggie was totally cool about it all because afterall, she was able to feast on and devour unlimited dog treats!

The next year, we planned ahead and Mom and I thought it would be fun for her to go as a 50's Be-Bop Beagle, complete with black cat on a leash skirt. Another homemade outfit, but much less noticeable as such. Maggie seemed to enjoy the silliness of it all, especially since we went to a party with lots of other dogs and unlimited treats!

To truly appreciate the message of this photo is to understand the unending, obsessive desire to constantly eat that is a Beagle trait. Maggie was no exception! We used this photo on a little Christmas card in 1999 with the message that with Christ as our example, Christmas was about giving sacrificially to others. Maggie really wanted those dog cookies!

When she was just a puppy, I sang a lot of silly songs to her; she seemed to thoroughly enjoy the attention and silliness of it all. One song she seemed to particularly like is "You are my Sunshine" --- I would later sing softly to her whenever she was ill, especially as she recovered from back surgery at the age of six and in this past month. I like Sara Hickman's version of this song:


Maggie brought tremendous joy and life into our lives. We loved as her as deeply as one can love and we will miss her always! But we praise God and thank Him for blessing us with such joy.

"The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised."
Job 1:21


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