From Fabienne's Diary: An ode to a special man, our Uncle George!!

Today we said our last farewell to our Uncle George, ...

A best friend who has gone, a personality to say "U" to, someone to never forget, ...

For years he came every year to live with us for a time at our home, and to share what we experienced daily with our Refugio. He gradually became  the great darling of many of our volunteers and friends, his eternal optimism, his humour and his warm personality touched both humans and animals , ...

Some anecdotes:
He once emptied the entire killing station at LOS BARIOS. When we had loaded 20 dogs and I was arranging the papers, I suddenly heard a loud noise outside, ... the men with the glass eyes walked up with their hands in the air behind Uncle George. He had opened all the cages and thought it was better this way than to let them all die there, just like that, for no reason!

"Are there any more, come here, ... load them all in, don't leave even one behind" and we didn't either ... We had dogs up to our ears, on the dashboard, about 40 in our little van, ...

He was in the forefront of our fight for our current rescue center which was then a killing station, negotiating with the owner of the killing station, which was then very profitable. He was a born diplomat, but also a born full-time perseverer.  "You never give up" he always said, and if you want something, you go for it, "no matter what".

Every time he came to us he went out with one of our dogs; one day he took Indy our big Mastin. Our Indy was huge and impressive ... along with Uncle George. They went together to one of the surrounding villages. After a long hike he wanted something to eat and enjoy his sol and sombra, with his big friend, but that was a bit outside the mentality of the Spaniards. He always asked first if Indy could sit next to him on the terrace, and if the answer was "no" then he said "No Indy, no George"

How many wonderful evenings have we spent together after a long day at the Refugio, laughter and crying, his 'sol and sombra' or 'carajillo'* what he called his own home made antibiotics ... releasing together our emotions and thoughts from the sometimes tough days together with him. All this was never to be forgotten.

He enjoyed the dogs, was our biggest fan, no diary passed him by and his support and quiet strength always made us happy ... only our own offspring were unmanageable if Uncle George was in the neighborhood because they were allowed to do "everything ". "Those beasts have already had to put up with enough" said he then .. and determined that every one would have fun."

I can still tell you so many anecdotes ... today we brought him our last greeting, we will miss him, that incredible good man, some memories ... of the many that remain engraved in our hearts, rest softly ... forever in our hearts, ... God will we miss you, ...

Fabienne and Dirk

For some lovely pictures on the Dutch Blog, click here

* A typical Spanish drink, a mixture of coffee and brandy.