Judy's precious portrait of Dancer
Judith Simpson was one of the earth’s finest human beings. She and I were friends for many years. Lord, I think it must have been 1994 when we first met on the internet, became friends through Saluki-L, and began to share our common loves. When word came through from our mutual good friend, Willie Towles, yesterday, that Judy had passed away, my heart just crumbled to pieces.
All evening last night, and all day today, emails and Facebook messages filtered through about Judy. The number of people whose lives she so deeply touched is astounding. As I read through them, it dawned on me, and it seems so unbelievable … Judy and I, for all our good times and shared laughter, never had the chance to meet in person. I feel that I’ve lost a sister, and it is so strange to realize that she was a sister I never “met”.
In 1996, when my darling dog Jai, only four years old, passed away suddenly, Judy’s voice was one of the first I heard on the phone. She brought me words of comfort, gave me a shoulder to cry on, and I have never ceased to thank her for that kindness.
Our long friendship actually began when we discovered that my boy Yoda, my first heart dog, was from old English bloodlines shared by her own Salukis. Judy sent me reams of photos, pedigrees, articles, and we chatted back and forth, comparing notes, and deepening our united love of this wonderful breed. After Jai passed, Judy was instrumental in information gathering for “S.I.G.H.” (Salukis In Good Health), a short lived but influential little organization that helped bring into the public eye a unified effort to explore health issues in the breed. Judy’s strong support of Saluki Health Research never faltered from that moment on, and I, and Judy’s other friends and family, encourage those who wish to honor her memory to make a donation (see link at bottom) in her name.
Judy was many things to many people, and Salukis were often the center of whatever part of her world she was gracing. She was a talented watercolor artist. Many of her friends have prized portraits of their hounds, done up by Judy’s loving hand. I am no exception to that blessing. My portrait of WindDancer, who passed in 2007 at age “almost fourteen”, is one of my most treasured possessions. I will never forget the day the painting arrived. I set it upright in the living room and Dancer lay across the room on the sofa, staring at it, for hours. She’d raise her ears, tilt her head back and forth, and just gaze in the most amazed and loving way at her painting. I have no doubt at all that she knew it was a painting of herself. (Dancer was also my Saluki who would put her paws on my bureau so she could admire herself in the mirror above it. She was incredibly cute, who can blame her?)
Yesterday was my son’s birthday. Devon turned twenty this year. He told me, in the morning, that he’d had a dream about Dancer. The connections, many of them, did not occur to me until after the news of Judy’s death arrived. Dancer took ill in 2007 on Devon’s birthday (the 16th of March). We made several emergency vet trips over the next several days, in an effort to get a raging and sudden infection under control, but we lost our little Dancie-Pants on the 21st. Here we were again, on Devon’s birthday, Dancer came to him in dream, and the artist who so lovingly painted her portrait passed into the spirit world later that day.
Was Dancer letting us know she was there to help greet her Aunt Judy, along with so many other Saluki friends?
Judy had so many Saluki friends, both fur-covered and of the human variety. She and I, along with our dear friends Lin and Mandy, have monitored the SalukiFriends email discussion group together for several years now, bringing us all even closer. Her dedication to the breed is unsurpassed, and she mentored many new Saluki owners over the years. The number of hounds out there who called her “Aunt Judy” is uncountable.
Judy was also a talented writer, published under several noms de plume, and a mentor to many aspiring authors. She taught creative writing courses, and brought many new writers encouragement and wisdom. In her role as writer and mentor, she had a dream, and worked hard to bring it to reality: Lost Bard Books was due to open its doors officially very soon — my own mid-grade mystery novel, and a collection of short stories I wrote, were to be among the first books published by Lost Bard.
My heart is broken to pieces to think that Judy will not be here to see the realization of her wonderful dream.
At least, she will not be here in physical form. I know, I pray, I hope, and I believe, that she will still see her dreams become reality. Miss Judy, the Southern Belle with the charming accent and the heart of gold, will look on from a higher place, watching over all of us who strive toward that dream.
For Judy: my love, my prayers, and my wishes for a gentle journey into the spirit realm. May your beloved Salukis gone-before, and your dear partner in life, Tally, be there to greet you with kisses and loving arms. May your son, Tobby, and sweet Duke bring one another comfort. And may your kind heart and gentle spirit inspire us all, always, to be better human beings.
For we are, indeed, better human beings just for having known you.
Sweet sleep, my friend. Sweet sleep.
Related Links
- Lost Bard Books
- Saluki Health Research
- Willie’s dedication to Judy
- Lin’s dedication to Judy, including a beautiful watercolor of Miss Ellie
Don’t you just know she’s chuckling? I spent several hours with her the Saturday before she went into the hospital. We sat at her kitchen table, you could see Duke stretched out on the big bed where Judy slept, his head posed on the bed pillow. He would look up at us now and then when our laughter got a little loud. Judy talked of her childhood, of her grandmother who raised her,and of her mother whom she only spent time with after she turned fifteen. She spoke of other people in her life during that time, and even though we have been friends for years, I never knew our lives paralleled in such close proximity. Now I look on that time as a gift unwittingly marking a glimpse into a life that heretofore, I had not known, it now seems her message of ‘this was me then, you know the me now,’ we shared a closeness of sisterhood like at no other time. To the other sisters on this page…. Much LOVE. Willie
Willie, I’m so happy you had that chance to laugh with Judy last Saturday.
Re: Willie’s ‘Friends’ post – I was thinking only yesterday how sometimes we have a tendency to take ‘friends’ for granted. After all, they will always be there when we need them won’t they? And all too swiftly we find out that in fact they won’t. That we won’t always be there. And with that realisation comes the thought that, for me anyway, I really should take time to spend more time with the friends I have made over the years. The ones I keep saying “Sure, yes I will come and visit one day”, “sure, let’s get together over lunch” and so on. Then life gets busy and it never happens. We need our friends in our lives just as much as we need our family. Our friends keep us balanced, they keep things in perspective, they help us wail and cry over the bad things, and they laugh with us over the good things. Through good or bad they remain constant – the essence of a true friend, whether they live around the corner, miles away or across the other side of the world. I need to make time this year and the years to come to spend more quality time with my friends.
.-= Lin´s last blog ..Mud, glorious mud!! =-.
Lin, your words are very wise. Having been through several losses over the past few years, I find myself thinking back often on things I should have done, should have said, before we said farewell. The only certain moment we have, is the one we are living in right now.
I am so honored to leave a note here…where Judy can see this outpouring of love for her, I’m sure she is reading over each shoulder as the words spill across the PC screen. Take care, my friend, if you cry a tear now and then, if your chuckle rings out loud at our words, or even if you shake your head in delight of what you see…read on, as the old saying goes…YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET! Willie
.-= Elizabeth (Willie) Towles´s last blog ..A deep corner/ a safe place =-.
It’s a great comfort to know that people are visiting, and sharing their love for Judy. The bond she created among all of us who love her is a magical thing that will help us through our tears.
Friends come…with invisible labeling
I lost a very dear friend yesterday! It started me thinking about this whole thing called Friendship, and I realized there is a world of difference in the strength of friends. In this life, we let ‘friends’ join our web sites with a quick click on the computer, and of the norm, we give the ‘okay’ very little thought. We add the word friend to our letters, emails, and often in a casual conversation, not pausing for an instant to feel the weight of perhaps what that friend lends to our life. Friends come to us with invisible labels, and often they stay in a tract that remains passive. And then—that rarity of gifts—a friend comes who endures, stepping into one’s life with an adhesive that is set in stone, and changing the way one writes…FRIEND. A friend such as this finds the empty spaces in a heart and over the years claim a corner in one’s Memory House. Today, I am dealing with a loss of a friend who came to dinner—and found a permanent place at my table. I’ve written several messages in honor of her FRIENDSHIP, and with each one, I rest a little easier, as if she is watching over my shoulder…and reading the words as they come alive on the page. She was like that, coming to me in layers of camaraderie, sharing laughs, sharing tears, and sharing our works of writing. She was truly a FRIEND in all that ways that count. And I will miss her every day…. Elizabeth
March, 17, 2010
This is a second message to my very dear friend, Judy.
.-= Elizabeth (Willie) Towles´s last blog ..A deep corner/ a safe place =-.
Hi, Willie. I am so glad you stopped by my little place in cyberspace, and shared your wonderful thoughts about friendship. Thank you for being such a good friend to Judy, and now a good friend to me as well.
Hi Gayle,
Thank you for your beautiful tribute to Judy. I met her at the National about 10 years ago and she, Jaqi and I had the best time. She became part of my family when I purchased Aria from Jaqi. She loved my red dogs…First Rory, then her son, Solaris, and now his son, Quila. I bought a print that she did a couple of years ago that reminded me so much of Rory. I treasure it. Though our friendship was long distance for the most part, she was a true friend and my heart is broken with her loss. Thanks again for writing what is in my heart. Hope to meet you one day in person.
Cathy, thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your love of Judy with me. She was such a central part of so many peoples’ lives, and her dedication to Salukis was profound. I would love to see the print of hers that you have, if there’s any way to photograph or scan it. I loved her artwork, too. If not, that’s okay, too, as I’ve no doubt that it’s just wonderful.
One of these days, I hope to be able to finally get to Kentucky.
Hi Gayle,
I will do that. Now I just need to recall where I have stashed it, waiting for who know what to put it up. It is DEFINITELY going up on a wall now…..not only to remember Judy, but also to remember Ms. Rory.
I don’t get to KY every year. My next visit I’m hoping will be next year. Perhaps we can meet then….if not, perhaps Judy’s passing has become an introduction to one another now, and a new potential friend!
I can’t wait to see it, Cathy. I’m sure it’s wonderful. I’d hoped to try to finally make it to the National this year, but with everything that’s happened recently, it looks like it’ll be another year before I can finally do so. Yes, I most definitely consider us new friends today.
Ah, Gayle, so beautifully said. I sat down at my computer yesterday afternoon and thought about how to encapsulate 20 years of best friendship into a talk that did not take 20 years to recount. Nearly impossible, as I sat and thought about all the things Judy and I did together, all the times she helped me through a tough patch, all the encouragement she gave me when one of my beloved houndies died. The great joy she took when the little ones were born. How she tucked little, cold Duke in her bra the day he was born and said, “this one is mine!” She was always the first person I called when one of my dogs won something at a dog show and especially when we were successful at agility. It always amazed her that a saluki would do that. Chopin never surprised her with the way he did agility. To her, his joy of the sport and free spirit to do it as he pleased was just right.
I’m leaking again while I write this. This is very hard. I miss Judy so very much and though the memories are wondeful I don’t want memories, I want Judy!
Oh, Jaqi, my eyes are leaking right along with yours. It takes a while, a long, long, while, till we can start to grasp the idea that our loved ones live on even though the earth has lost their physical form. May Judy’s spirit watch over you, as I know it will, and may she find little ways of letting you know she’s with you.
When my Mom died, the following spring, I faced my 50th birthday without her. It was crushing to me, I didn’t know how I’d get through that day. I woke up on that early April morning, though and, as I often did, took my first cup of coffee for a walk around the yard. As I approached one of my daylily beds, there, in the grass outside that garden, were five little purple crocuses. I’d never had crocuses grow there before, and, now four years later, can confirm that I’ve never had crocuses grow there since. Five little magical crocuses, one for each decade of my life. Mom’s 50th birthday present to me.
I’m weeping now remembering it, and missing Judy so deeply … but the comfort that small gift brought me far outweighs the pain, over all.
May the universe bring you many little Judy Gifts to see you through this difficult time.
Ach…..here come the tears again. So beautifully written Gayle. May I link to it from my webpage as I was going to do a tribute to her with just a photo, but this is so much better.
.-= Lin´s last blog ..Mud, glorious mud!! =-.
Yes, Lin, please feel free to link site to site, as all Judy’s friends are linked heart to heart.