I met Annie (the dog) in 2004. I had just started dating Shelley, and she had two dogs and a cat (Palay). If I have the facts right, Annie was the dog she kept after the divorce (Oliver went with her ex-husband). Shelley wanted Annie to have a companion and purchased the male Golden Retriever, Jackson. With two of the most diverse personalities, they provided many memories. Me not being a strong animal lover, they seemed attracted to me. As a kid, I had some real bad issues with dogs and grew to resist getting attracted to an animal.
Annie and Jackson always seemed to sense that I was indifferent. They would always try to get my attention. Jackson was aggressive, but Annie, with her graying hair, would just plop her head there and look at me. Just like she was always saying, please be my friend. I did just that. They grew on me, and I learned to enjoy my visits and walks with them. Now, it will be a walk of one, which will be hard at first.
After Annie was euthanized, the Vet did the best job ever helping with the pain we all felt. My son came, and afterward, he asked why I was crying. He said he had never seen me cry and knew my approach to dogs. I explained that Annie was unique, and many times when Shelley was out of town or after my surgeries, Annie seemed to know what to do… She seemed to always approach me like a loving mother, not demanding anything but just wanting you to know she was there, always willing to make anything better. It is very painful to see her go, but it is the right decision. So I, like any human, would have cried with that much sorrow, seeing what had become a dear part of my life go away…
R.I.P. Annie, may you and Palay have a great time together in heaven! You were special to many!
Carry on…
2 comments:
Eerie... We just had to put our dearly loved Golden down last week. That photo on your post looked EXACTLY like her. We were lucky to have Martha Kate for 16 1/2 years - and she was in pretty good shape until the very end. The hardest part for me wasn't letting go of her (I knew she was winding down), but watching how hard it was on my wife and my two daughters. Amazing how invested we can become in our pets. ... Sorry about your dog...
My sympathies to you on your loss. I think losing pets is especially hard because we feel so much responsibility for them and they give us unconditional love.
Post a Comment