Death is an inevitable part of everyone’s life. It’s a thing that no one can skip or beat, but it’s also a reminder that we should be nice to each other and leave a reason to this world to miss us.
Our pets might not be able to think about what they’re doing or express themselves the same way we do, but they sure know how to show all the love and affection they have for us… their owner.
And, that’s why we miss them so much. But, it’s also a reason why we remember them for the rest of our life.
A Walk In The Park Turns Into A Mystery-Solving Adventure
Zach Medlin, a resident of West Monroe, in Louisiana, is a frequent visitor of Kiroli Park, along with his Staffordshire terrier named Serena.
The two of them enjoy long walks and chasing ducks (the second part is mostly Serena’s thing), but even though they’re often at the same site, Medlin had never noticed that there was a gravestone in the park until one day.
According to what Medlin told The Dodo, Serena was playing with ducks when he noticed an unusual piece of stone covered by leaves and branches.
Medlin became quite interested in it, so he decided to turn into a detective and check the stone closely. After getting rid of the layers of dry leaves, branches, and pine straw, Medlin finally uncovered a gravestone.
And, it broke his heart.
The first thing that came to his mind was why the owners of the dog decided to bury him in a park. However, after reading the inscription, Medlin knew one thing – this dog was loved.
“Buddie, 1928 – 1941 / Born a dog, Died a gentleman”
It might seem like a short inscription, but it’s more powerful than thousands of words. As Medlin put it for The Dodo:
“It warms my heart to know that Buddie carried his owners through the Great Depression […] All dogs deserve a grave marker.”
Buddie, A Brave Hero Or A Loving Pet?
Medlin was interested in finding out what was said on the stone, but Lora Peppers took the investigation to a whole new level.
She posted the memorial, “Buddie The Dog”, on the “Find A Grave” website, with pictures of the gravestone and her findings on Buddie.
Basically, there are two stories circling around regarding the doggo buried in the park.
One version says that Buddie was a mascot and the hero of the local Boy Scouts summer camp, as Lora stated in the memorial:
“One of the scouts swam off from the group and got in trouble. Buddie the dog began furiously barking to alert everyone and then dove into the lake. The boys were alerted by the dog’s barks and were able to save the drowning boy. Buddie wasn’t so lucky.”
Unfortunately, she didn’t manage to find any evidence to back up this version, not even one article or piece of writing regarding the story, so it remained a myth rather than a true event.
However, what Peppers managed to discover was that there was a couple who owned an Irish Setter named Buddie… Mr. and Mrs. Jones.
Apparently, Mr. Jones loved spending time in Kiroli Park with his doggo, which is probably why he decided to bury him there.
The truth might not ever be revealed, but whatever it is, it brought a lot of people together under Medlin’s Facebook post, as one of the comments says:
“Incredible. 80 years later and Buddie’s memory has united 29,000 strangers all around the world. What a good boy!”
