Tribute to My Nephew's Dog

My nephew, Stephen Walker (my sister’s oldest child, and her only son) died Sunday, March 30th, 2008, at the age of 31. He drown when he fell out of his little john boat, into the frigid water of Carter’s Lake (Cartersville, GA) and was unable to free himself from the water-filled rain suit that quickly pulled him to the bottom of the lake. He had been reported missing by Allatoona campground workers on Wednesday, April 2nd, after his supervisor (he was a high-iron welder) came to his camper to see why he hadn’t shown up for work all week. When his little john boat was discovered floating loose on the lake Friday, April 4th, DNR workers put the pieces together and quickly discovered his body at the bottom of the lake, very close to where the boat had been found. Stephen’s dog, Skipper - who had been his devoted companion – was with him on the fishing trip and was presumed dead, although no body was found.



What no one ever expected is that Skipper, who was 18 years old and suffered severely from arthritis, somehow managed to get to shore and determined to get home, walked over 100 miles over the course of the next 5 days, to return to Allatoona Landing Marine Resort and the camper/home he had shared with Stephen. Shocked at the return of the little dog – who was now no more than skin and bones, campground employees let him into the camper and then called to let me know, since they were aware I was planning to go to GA to collect Stephen’s belongings and bring them back to his mother in Havelock, NC.



I got the first available flight to Atlanta, rented a car and headed for Allatoona, but while I was still a half hour away, one of the campground employees called to let me know that he had just gone to check on Skipper and found that he had slipped away sometime during the morning. We agreed that he died of a broken heart when he found Stephen wasn’t waiting for him in the camper, nor would he be coming back.



When some of his friends learned that we wanted to bring the little dog’s body back to NC, to be buried along with Stephen, one of his friends (John Tewelow) hand-crafted a small coffin and another (Richard Gilbert) wrote the following tribute, to be buried inside the coffin with the little dog:



This, the most loyal friend, walked an incredible distance.

He was confused and crippled, but he was looking for his best friend.

When this lost dog found his friend was gone from here,

He lay down and died so he could look for him in heaven.

God, thank you for this example of true, unconditional love

An admirer of this good friend



We took Skipper home to North Carolina in the back of Stephen’s pick-up truck, along with his other possessions and his little john boat & trailer. At the cemetery, the funeral director laid Skipper’s coffin at the foot of Stephen’s own coffin and, once the family left the grounds, the little dog was placed at best friend’s feet. It seems fitting that the two, who were inseparable in life, will remain so through eternity.



Although I am very sad about this loss to our family, my heart has been warmed throughout the week by witnessing so many acts of kindness and demonstrations of friendship, and I was inspired by the unwavering loyalty and devotion which was so evident between my nephew, Stephen and his dog, Skipper. I hope by sharing my experience with you, that you will be reminded that simple acts of kindness go a long way to ease the pain of others; that unconditional love abounds in this world, whether between two people, or between a boy and his dog; and that you really don’t know when the last chance to tell your friends that you care about them will be just that.