Everlasting sunlight

Apollo and Lucy. Early 2009

For an animal lover, there are few people in this world that can touch our lives the way our pets can. We have had our fair share of pets come and go in the ten years that Melanie and I have been together, and it is never easy to say good bye. This week, we had to say good bye to our beloved Lucy. Lucy was a month away from her 16th birthday. She was the quiet, soft hearted, nurturing member of our pack. Her peaceful disposition and personality were always over shadowed by the other rambunctious members of our household.  As quiet as she was, our home feels emptier and quieter in her absence.

Apollo and Lucy on the dog bed (2009)

  February 2002, I moved to Bend Oregon. A few weeks later, Melanie and I started dating. It was in March that I was invited to Melanie's home for the first time. Upon my arrival, Melanie greeted me at the door, and forewarned me that one of her dogs, a Boston Terrier named Lucy, was a dog that she had rescued from a breeder a few years earlier and that Lucy hated men. Melanie told me that is was best if I ignored her as she would be leery and suspicious of me and it would take a while for her to warm up, if she even would at all. Eager to impress and competitive enough that I wanted to prove Melanie wrong, I entered her home ready for the challenge.  

 I soon heard the charge of two dogs hurrying in from the backyard at an urgent pace, growling all the way, ready to pounce upon this new intruder... yours truly. Nokia, Melanie's Blue Healer, instantly started wagging her tail, allowed me to pet her, then promptly ran off to find a ball, or a stick for me to throw for her. Then came Lucy. From Melanie's warning, I had anticipated a timid but aggressive little yap dog that was going to stand at the far end of the room and bark at me for an hour. Instead, I see this sweet little dog come around the corner that was so submissive, that I knew I would win her over in a heart beat. "Well hello little doggy!" I called to her as I bent over to offer up some scratches behind the ear. Immediately, Lucy's whole back end began to wag too and fro, her ears dropped and she ran up and greeted me as an old friend. I took a seat on the couch and Lucy jumped up, and plopped her body across my lap. In 30 seconds, I had won over Lucy... and Melanie. I was very proud of myself at that moment. "Yup, a real man hater, this one," I muttered smugly as I scratched the face and ears of my new dog. 

Lucy and Xerxes, December 2008

Lucy was a frisky and very sweet soul. She was so submissive though, that Nokia used to lay right in front of the dog door to block Lucy from reentering the house. Lucy would stand outside in the cold and often in the snow, shivering, just waiting for Nokia to let her in. In 2004, Diego, a Pomeranian-Chihuahua mix,came into our lives, and quickly became Lucy's advocate and would run interference with Nokia to allow Lucy access to the doggy door and the food and water bowls. As Lucy began to lose her eyesight and hearing, Diego became her eyes and ears, and she followed Diego everywhere. Diego was hit by a car and killed in 2009. Lucy stood over his lifeless body for hours, wailing. I have never seen such compassion and sorrow expressed by one animal for another. As if our hearts weren't broken enough, we had to see Lucy grieve so hard. Lucy mourned Diego for many months, and she was never really the same after he was gone.

Diego and Lucy. Bath time! (2008)

  My favorite thing about Lucy was her love of the sun and warmth. Until the day that she died, Lucy would go from room to room following the sun to lay in her favorite sunny spots as she soaked up the heat. Anytime the fireplace was on, you could find Lucy laying directly in front of it.
  Lucy had many challenges through out her life. She was plagued with seizures which is why she was retired from breeding. Her previous owner wanted to have her put to sleep because of the seizures, which is how Melanie came to adopt her. Diet modification was all that was needed to control the problem. Lucy also had several tumors removed over the years, some of them cancerous. As I stated previously, Lucy also began to lose her eyesight, and was nearly blind in the end. She has been completely deaf in the last couple years as well. Tumors began to consume Lucy's body in the last 4 to 6 months. Although not in pain, they slowly began to take their toll on this sweet soul. Lucy had one large 'mast cell' tumor that grew at a rapid rate. Melanie tended to Lucy daily, hot packing her tumor and cleaning her and dressing her in old t-shirts to cover the tumor and keep lucy from scratching it. Lucy relished in her daily grooming. We had agreed that as long as she wasn't in pain and had quality of life, we would keep her around and do what we could to keep her comfortable. We had given Lucy the nick-name of "Zombie-dog" in the last few months. It seemed only fitting with her cloudy, blue colored eyes, and tattered and often bloody t-shirts.

Lucy on Valentines Day, 2012

In Lucy's last few days, she began to develop many new "seed" tumors all over her body, began to eat less and sleep more. It was time to let her go. The veterinarian gave her one final exam, and agreed that it was time. It was a warm and sunny afternoon. The sunlight was streaming through the exam room window and rested upon Lucy's face. Melanie held her in her arms and watched as her life slipped away.
  We buried Lucy's in one of her favorite sunny spots in the yard. I imagined as she closed her clouded eyes in this world and opened her bright clear eyes in the next, she would find Nokia lying in front of the pearly gates to "doggy heaven" trying as she always did, to block Lucy from entering. Diego appeared and led her through where she was greeted by the rest of our dearly departed; Harold, Bacchus, Xerxes, Donna, and Pickles.
  Lucy, may you find the warmth of everlasting sunlight, endless fields to run through, the camaraderie of your pack, and the comfort of knowing that you are loved and missed by the ones you left behind.
 Until we meet again.