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It was Alta the dog that knew before any of us that Bill Murphy was taking his final breath.
St. Francis of Assisi said, "If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men." (photo: Alyssa Murphy / National Catholic Register)
It was just last year on Oct. 1 that my dear father left this earthly life for something far greater. I am still learning to comprehend that greater, but I am still blown away by the many graces that God has shown me throughout it all.
On this feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, I can only think of what an Australian shepherd named Alta taught me in that “hour of death.”
We were all gathered inside my father’s room at my sister’s house — what will always be affectionately called “Grandpa’s house” to my dear young daughter. He had only been in hospice a few short weeks, following a blessed bucket trip to his beloved Canada to listen to the waves lapping against the shore of Red Bay one final time at his childhood summer home that has been in our family for at least four generations.
Alta rests next to Bill Murphy, convalescing at home during his fight against stage 4 prostate cancer. September 2023.(Photo: Courtesy photo)
Continued below.
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It was just last year on Oct. 1 that my dear father left this earthly life for something far greater. I am still learning to comprehend that greater, but I am still blown away by the many graces that God has shown me throughout it all.
On this feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, I can only think of what an Australian shepherd named Alta taught me in that “hour of death.”
We were all gathered inside my father’s room at my sister’s house — what will always be affectionately called “Grandpa’s house” to my dear young daughter. He had only been in hospice a few short weeks, following a blessed bucket trip to his beloved Canada to listen to the waves lapping against the shore of Red Bay one final time at his childhood summer home that has been in our family for at least four generations.
Continued below.
St. Francis of Assisi, Death, and a Dog Named Alta
It was Alta the dog that knew before any of us that Bill Murphy was taking his final breath.
