This morning, we buried Penny. The mother of the barn owner, Sharon, decided to do it right in the pasture where Penny was lying. Of course the backhoe tore up the pasture with its tires and the hole, but it was fairly near the gate, so it wasn't too bad. I decided to be there, and I'm glad I was. I felt bad to have the landowners have to take total responsibility, including paying the guy and then asking me for the money. They said it'd cost around $200, so I brought that much cash with me and a bit more, if it might be $225 or so. You never know what "about"means.
Sharon, the mom, phoned me when they said he'd be on his way, and when I arrived, he had already started digging. He is the local gravedigger for the cemetery in my town, so he knew his stuff. And when he dug the hole, he was very sensitive to me, asking if I wanted to see Penny one last time. I took a look, but she didn't look like herself. It wasn't Penny. I asked him to try to save the rain sheet she had been wearing, which was now under her, and he did a good job of moving her body gently off it so I could pull it away. Then he used his backhoe to push her body into the hole. She landed on her back, with her legs sticking up in the air, but he managed to move her till she was lying on her side. Then he filled in the dirt, which of course made a mound.
Sharon and I discussed some sort of thing to be a memorial, and I had mentioned a bush or flowers, but we decided on a tree. Since it's her property, I said I'd let her choose what kind of tree, and I'd pay for it and help her plant it. She said she'd go to Agway and look at trees.
I feel a lot better now. There are still moments of disbelieving it really happened, but now I have to deal with all Penny's stuff. That's the next stage in this process.
My daughter called me this evening, and she told me stories of Penny she remembered, about how much we loved each other. She visited me just before it happened, so at least she got to see Penny one last time.
