It was cool at night, the floors were concrete, and there wasn't a staff person there to assist the delivery between 12:00 noon and 8:00 a.m. the following morning. This was no place for a pregnant dog to deliver pups. However, the person in charge of the shelter would not release her before her official "seven days" were up, a requirement to ensure an animal is truly abandoned. Sasha would not take no for an answer. After fighting with the shelter manager for four days, Gracie was released to a vet on a Saturday morning. This was possible due to the caring response of a weekend shelter worker. She was officially adopted by Sasha on a Tuesday morning at 8:00 a.m. Unbeknownst to the shelter manager, she had delivered 5 female pups during the night. Gracie was named Grace because it was only by the grace of God that she was rescued out of that shelter. Her puppies were named Faith, Hope, Joy, Liberty, and Charity.Hearing Gracie's story touched my heart for some reason. Gracie and the puppies went home with Sasha Tuesday morning after she was officially adopted. Listening to Sasha talk about the puppies and Gracie tugged at my heartstrings and I just had to see this dobiefamily. Sasha lives three hours drive from my family. I decided that I just had to see these babies and Gracie for myself. This is just not something I would usually do. Even while making the three hour drive, I kept asking myself, "Why are you doing this, you are not bringing a puppy home with you. What good will it do to go see them?" My youngest son and I made a quick trip to Wisconsin, saw the puppies, visited with Sasha for several hours, played with the puppies, then went back to the hotel. We chose a hotel that had a hot-tub and pool so we could have an enjoyable evening lounging in the hot-tub. This decision to stay at the hotel altered some traditional plans that we had made for a trip to a hotel in downtown Minneapolis in December.
It was about one week after our visit to Wisconsin that Gracie had to be put to sleep. Gracie had bitten Sasha in an
unprovoked attack. Sasha had to make the VERY painful decision to put Gracie to sleep because of the risk she and her children were at. After weaning her puppies, Gracie had become unpredictable and unstable in her temperment. We don't know Gracie's history but we know that she was not cared for properly. Sasha held Gracie in her arms as the vet gave her that fateful shot that sent Gracie back to God. It broke our hearts that Gracie had to be put down since so much time and energy had been put into her rescue. It was a very sad day for many of us. Many of us questioned why this had to happen.I now know why Gracie was here. She was an angel sent by God to protect my family.
My husband's company hosts a Christmas party every year at the Minneapolis Hilton and Towers Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. The party is held on a Saturday, and each family is put up for the night at the hotel. We are also offered an additional night at the hotel at the group rate at our expense. We usually do spend the extra night at the hotel. When we spend the extra night we will go into downtown Minneapolis and stand at the corner of 5th and Nicollet to watch the Holidazzle parade. It is a family oriented event that brings thousands of people into downtown Minneapolis for a festive parade full of floats and storybook characters that are lighted with thousands of holiday lights. It is a fun and beautiful event. We would have been at the parade on Friday, Dec. 4th but since we had just spent a night at a hotel with a pool and hot-tub we didn't feel like we should spend the extra money to do it again so soon after our visit to Wisconsin.
The evening of December 4th, we spent at home instead of at the Holidazzle parade in Minneapolis. That evening we went to bed and watched the news. The top story was a fatal accident at the Holidazzle parade. Apparently, while on routine patrol just prior to the beginning of the parade, a Minneapolis detox van had a mechanical failure and accelerated into the crowd. This took place at the corner of 5th and Nicollet. I was stunned as I turned and looked at my husband. That is the corner we would have been standing at, had it not been for Gracie. The van accelerated, careened off of a squad car, went through the horrified crowd, and stopped after crashing through the front of
a building. This was a horrible, tragic accident. A 35 year old woman and her 5 month old nephew died. There were many injured people as well, including many, many children, some seriously.I don't know why God chose to spare my family from being at that corner on that fateful night. I do know that God works in mysterious ways, even through a doberman and her puppies, to achieve His will.
I know that God took Gracie, the angel, back to Him once she had accomplished her mission of saveing my family. Her puppies were weaned, my family would be safe from harm, and her work here on earth was done. It made her death easier for me to deal with, knowing that God had everything in control.
I will always be grateful to Gracie for saving my family from harm.
Shelley Cooksey
Lino Lakes, MN
CWCooksey@juno.com
This page is currently under construction. I hope to soon be able to share more with you.
Last Updated: January 13, 1999
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