The Dog Blog: A tough year without Lady

Sunday, September 17, 2017

A tough year without Lady

MISS LADY MA'AM

Today is a sad one for me. Lady died this day last year, and I've mourned her every day since.

The day she died (Sept. 17, 2016), it felt like a great weight had been placed on my chest. I couldn't talk about her without my voice cracking, and she came to mind constantly. It was painful to look at photos of Lady.

The worst moment came when I went to the vet's office to pick up the box with her ashes.

We got our beagle Dixie 10 days later (she's lying behind me as I write this), and it's gotten progressively easier. The weight has been lifted from my chest, and I can think of Lady with fondness, not regret.

Still, I miss her. I miss her "huh-huh-huh" sound that was her approximation of speech. I miss her going down through the basement out into the cage (Dixie won't do it). I miss her spending hours out in the backyard, sometimes sniffing, sometimes just enjoying the day.

Lady wasn't really a "good girl" when we got her; she always got into mischief. And she bullied our other dogs. After about 10 years together, Lady was turning into a good girl and a sweet girl. I still remember me giving her a toy, her going away to play with it and then coming back to give it to me. I looked at it closely, then gave it back to her. She took it in her jaws and trotted away happily.

Dixie doesn't play with toys. Sigh.

It's been a tough year. And a quick one.