Today, Dec. 23rd would have been Sprite’s Birthday!

Our 16 1/2 year old dachshund was born on December 23, 1996 and passed away on July 8, 2013. Sprite was a funny little guy, who liked to keep to himself and didn't play with toys. Today's Blog is about ways we've honored him - from sharing his story, to putting him on a book cover, and giving him a special Christmas tree.

• He’s Featured on the Cover of “Pets and the Afterlife 2: Stories of signs from pets that passed” (top right corner)
• Sprite has a Chapter in Pets and the Afterlife 1 about his Butterfly sign!

Sprite came to us from a rescue on December 4, 2010 just shy of his 14th birthday. We picked up Sprite in Frederick, Md from a rescue transporter on December 10th, 2010, who drove him from Ohio. He came from a home where one parent passed, and the other went into assisted living. While fostering him, Sprite needed several surgeries and had 22 rotted teeth removed. We adopted Sprite in April 2011 when we learned of his heart murmur.

Sprite loved our Weimaraner, Dolly, and Dachshunds, Franklin and Tyler (also now in spirit with him).

To honor Sprite, back in 2013 we bought a small counter-top-Sprite-Sized tree and decorations. We topped the tree with a butterfly because after Sprite passed we saw yellow and black butterflies following us and our other dogs around. Even friends who read about Sprite's story were followed around or visited by yellow and black butterflies - so that's his sign.

You can read Sprite's Butterfly story in "Pets and the Afterlife (1)" by Rob Gutro.

Ireland Trip 48: Ghostly Soldiers and a Sign from Sprite's Spirit

Rob in the town of Dingle

This is part 48 of our Ireland Trip through the Dingle Peninsula, and from the title "A Sign from Our Dog Sprite's Spirit and Ghostly Soldiers" you're likely wondering what those things have to do with each other. Well, they're both about how pets and people communicate from the afterlife. It seems that the Dingle Peninsula had lots of paranormal stuff going on, and none of it was in any tour book. Here's the story:


TRULEE'S WINDMILL - We met back up with Gerard, our driver, and he drove us about 35 miles through the town of Trulee, home of the last surviving windmill on the Dingle Peninsula. He said that next to the windmill is a culvert that used to be used by ships that would bring in dry goods from the Atlantic Ocean. 

We continued heading back toward the hotel and that's when Gerard told us about a local ghost story that has been responsible for a number of deaths caused when drivers were caught by surprise. 

Ghostly soldiers crossing the road

Route N22

GHOSTLY SOLDIERS - Between the town of Trulee and Farranfore, we drove through a place called "Brennen's Glen." Gerard told us that in this stretch of road there were a lot of single car fatalities. He said that over the last 60 years many accidents occurred, and the people who survived all had the same story: That a band of soldiers were marching across the road as the drivers tried to swerve to avoid them. There were a lot of cars that apparently went off the road and crashed into trees. No one has any idea who the soldiers are or why they were marching on that particular road. I couldn't find anything on the internet about soldiers on the Dingle Peninsula or hauntings there that involve soldiers.
 

mountain sheep

SPRITE'S BUTTERFLY- When our 16 1/2 year old Dachshund Sprite passed on July 8, 2013, the next day he sent us a yellow and black butterfly. We rarely see them, as odd as that may sound. There really are just not a lot of butterflies where we live. However, spirits can also convey messages anywhere in the world. This was one of those instances. What's also interesting is that during our entire trip to Ireland we didn't see one butterfly.

Route N22

While we were walking around the town of Dingle, we went in a bunch of shops. For some reason, I was thinking of Sprite. We were drawn to one shop called "the Dolphin Store" for some reason, although it only appeared to have jewelry inside (and we're not big on jewelry). We went inside and the first thing we saw was a small ceramic yellow and black butterfly.  As I've said before, when it comes to spirits, there are no coincidences. We were nudged in that shop, even though we have no interest in jewelry- only to get an acknowledgement from Sprite that he's still around us.


NEXT: AN ABANDONED PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL AND PERSONAL GHOST STORY