Zoey, I remember the day you were born. Ruth held her toy (the icky yellow one we'd found on the side of the road one day, her favorite,) in her mouth for the entire labor and delivery. You were one of the only black and whites out of the litter and one of the only females, an important quality as mom and dad were only looking to keep a female.
I would visit you and the litter, just sitting there. You'd just crawl in my lap for loves or a nap while the other puppies all played together. We were best buddies from the get go. I always thought it was cute how you slept in the food dish as much as it annoyed mom. Somehow I convinced them that we had to keep you, even though they wanted the little liver and white female that showed early signs of a good hunting drive.
You were so eager to please and tried to do anything asked of you. You learned fast, sitting, fetching, shaking... just a few of the things you could do. You were supposed to be dad's new hunting dog, the whole reason we bred Ruth, like mother like daughter he hoped. Somehow though Ruth's hunting drive didn't translate. Instead of doing what you were supposed to do you would just walk in front of me in the field and trip me all day. The word "hunt" to you meant, "where's the ball?" and though you were an ultimate failure as a hunting dog we still took you with us, you loved to go swimming and running around and it was still fun. Well aside from all the burs I had to comb out of your coat. Ruth did all the work, it's ok.
Even as big as you got, your favorite thing to do was sit in my lap and even though you were a big slobbery mess and I always had to change my clothes afterward, I loved it. You were my buddy, and you always made me feel better. I'm going to miss you.
I've been preparing for today for a long time, I thought I had come to terms with it since I've been expecting it for about a year now, but I still have some tears to shed. Here is my farewell to the best and most loyal of friends. Goodbye Zoey, I love you.
3 comments:
Rachel, I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your best friend and companion. What a great tribute to her!
I remember when she was born too. Wow, I can't believe she is gone.I know this is really hard, but it feels good knowing she lived a great life. She was a cutie!!
I'm so sorry. We had our first baby Winston leave us in January after 11 years. It's a difficult time but having wonderful closure like this helps. Zoey is in my thoughts.
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