Pets

We humans can be incredibly cruel to one another, but when it comes to our pets, we can be incredibly tender.  And it doesn't matter if it's a cat, a dog, a goldfish, a gerbil, or whatever.  We love them, we take care of them, and they (usually) bring us incredible joy.  And when we lose them oh so soon, it becomes a pain in your heart and a hole in your soul.

We've been dog people since our early Navy days in Pensacola.  We got a mutt from an advertisement in the paper.  Her name was Sierra and she was a funny dog.  She gave us many years of love, fun, and joy and lived a good long life.  One funny thing about her was that in her later years for some reason she took to growling at our son.  We all (except him) thought it was pretty funny, but knew deep down that she wouldn't hurt him.  

After Sierra, we got a wonderful yellow Lab named Maddie.  She was a scamp!!  She could dig, tear things up, run away, and retrieve balls for hours.  She also had an incredibly lovable side and when she would hug you, it was pretty difficult not to love her.  And love her we did.  After some time, we decided that she needed a playmate so we got a black Lab named Annie.  Maddie definitely dominated in the pairing but they had many great years together.  I'm pretty sure that in my entire life I've never known a more sweet and loving being, animal or human, than Annie.  She was the epitome of a  lovey-dovey girl.  But as these things go Maddie grew old, had some seizures, and we had to let her go over the rainbow bridge.  We all thought Annie would be devastated and sad.  Not so much!  Mother Nature is an interesting old girl.  With Maddie and her domineering ways out of the picture, Annie came into her own.  We had her about 4 more years before it was her time to go, and they were wonderful and loving years.

And so how it goes we decided we had to get another dog.  One of my favorite sayings is that "a house is not a home without a dog".  And that proved to be sorta true for us.  We both missed having a dog around the house.  But this time, we went looking for an older dog so we wouldn't have to go through puppyhood.  We found Windy at a kennel up in Hemet.  She was 4 years old, would no longer have puppies, and they wanted to move her to a home.  So we agreed to adopt her.  From the beginning, it was obvious that she had been abused.  When we took her to our vet for a checkup they found all kinds of things wrong.  Things that indicated abuse.  She was also incredibly skittish around people.  She loved us and fit right in with us, but she wasn't at all interested in any stranger coming close.  It took a lot of patience and loving, but she finally came around.  And the people she loved more than anyone was our Granddaughters.  When they would come into the room she would light up, start prancing around, and start whining for attention.  She had really come full circle.  But, as is always the case in life, it was finite.  She lived to a ripe old age of 15, which is pretty amazing for a Lab.  In the last few months, she had a lot of problems that I won't detail here, but suffice to say her quality of life was badly compromised.  Fortunately, we have a wonderful Vet who lovingly walked us through the decision-making process and late this morning Windy went peacefully over the rainbow bridge to join Sierra, Maddie, Annie, and so many others who have been loved.  We will miss her and remember her with love and a smile.  And we'll not forget her.