WRNT is a 501 (c)(3) Corporation
Charlie Wilcox
Charlene
Wilcox, 60, passed away Monday, March 30, 2009, at her
home in Hurst after a four-year battle with breast cancer.
Funeral: Noon Thursday in the chapel of Forest Ridge
Funeral Home in Hurst. Interment: Sparkman-Hillcrest in
Dallas. Visitation: Her family will receive friends
beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday.
Memorials: In lieu of flowers, please make a contribution
to Susan G. Komen for the Cure in her memory.
Charlene was born Aug. 16, 1948, in Paris, Texas. She was
a VISTA volunteer in the 1960s, worked for Braniff
Airlines in the '70s and worked in property management in
the '80s and '90s. She loved all animals and spent her
final years finding homes for abandoned dogs. Her big
smile and endless compassion will be missed by all who
knew her.
Survivors: Her loving brother, Charles Nigrelli; daughter,
Montana Wilcox; granddaughter, Kaylee Wilcox; and all the
Wilcox family.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram 1 April 2009
Click to enlarge.
A Rescue Dog’s Poem
Once I was a lonely dog just looking for a home. I had no place to go, no one to call my own. I wandered up and down the streets in rain, in heat, in snow. I ate whatever I could find, I was always on the go.
My skin would itch, my feet were sore, and my body ached with pain. No one stopped to give me a pat or gently say my name. I never saw a loving glance, I was always on the run. For people thought that hurting me was really lots of fun.
Then one day I heard a voice so gentle, kind and sweet, with arms so soft that reached down to me and took me off my feet. “No one again will hurt you,” was whispered in my ear. “You’ll have a home to call your own where you will know no fear.”
“You will be dry, you will be warm, you’ll have enough to eat. And rest assured that when you sleep, your dreams will all be sweet.” I was afraid, I must admit, I’ve lived so long in fear. I can’t remember the last time when I let a human come so near.
As she tended to my wounds and bathed and brushed my fur, she told me about this “rescue group” and what it meant to her.
She said, “We are a circle, a line that never ends... In the center of it, there is you protected by new friends. All around you are the ones that check the pounds, and those who share their homes with you after you’ve been found.”
“All the other folks are searching near and far, to find the perfect home for you, where you can be a star.” She said, “There is a family, they are waiting very patiently, and pretty soon we’ll find them, just you wait and see.”
“And then they’ll join our circle, they’ll help to make it grow, so there’ll be room for more like you who have no place to go.”
I waited very patiently. They days, they came and went. Today is the day, I kept on thinking, my family will be sent. Then just when I began to think it wasn’t meant to be, there were people standing there gazing down at me.
“I could tell they felt it, too, for a special dog like you.”
Now every night I say a prayer to all the Gods that be. Thank you for the life I live and all you’ve given me. But most of all protect the dogs in the pounds and in the streets. And send a Rescue Person like Charlie to them to lift them off their feet.
We know that Charlie will be waiting for us at The Rainbow Bridge. Thank you Charlie from all of us.
A LITTLE PIECE OF HEAVEN
By Karen Simondet, 2008
I know of a place I know you cannot see me
That is not far from here But I want you to know
Put your hand over your heart I still follow you everywhere
I am right in there! I am still your shadow
I see you at night I am your little piece of heaven
As you pray and weep And though you see me no more
My paw rested on your arm I will wait here happily
As I tried to help you sleep Til you arrive at my eternal door
You woke up in the morning But until that day
With panic in the air Please know I am just fine
My passing your first thought I will watch over you
I know it feels unfair Until we meet again in time
I saw you make coffee So until we see each other
A simple task seemed so hard I will frolic and play
You looked out the window In this place we call heaven
You wished me in the yard And I will visit you every day
Your eyes hurt badly I will follow you to the yard
As you drove to the store I will nap on your chair
A song came on the radio I will wait for you to come home
And the tears again to pour So please no more despair
The days are so long And my paw will still rest
And time seems to stand still On your arm every night
I know your heart is aching I will still be next to you each morning
But I am right here! As the day brings in the light
You will try again tonight Remember I told you
And hope I’m in your dreams Of a place not far from here
But I never left you Close your eyes for a moment
I am just beyond the sunbeams Can you feel me, I am near