My Little Girl

Oh, this post is hard to write but I want to get it all out because I need to...

I have been an animal lover my whole life. Dressed my cats up like baby dolls when I was little, took in every stray I could- you get the picture. After I moved to the city when I was 13, I didn't have any animals for several years. Then one day while my was working downtown, she called and said "There is a beautiful cocker spaniel down here that needs a home. Get down here."

When I first saw Lady, she was the most beautiful dog I had ever seen. Cocker Spaniels are my favorite dogs because my very first dog was one. I fell in love with her immediately. She had a heavy chain for a collar and was cowered down acing so timid. Her name was "GiGi" but she never came when I called it. So I named her "Lady" because she looked just like Lady from "Lady and the Tramp" but he was silky black.

I took that chain off immediately and she was a pampered pooch from that moment on. She followed me everywhere. Got all worked up if another dog even dared approach me. She would sleep next to me in bed with her head on the pillow. I took her everywhere I went.

We went through a lifetime of events together. When I started teaching, I had framed pictures of her in my classroom and all my students knew all about her. She made her way into lots of math lessons and English sentences. I got married and later divorced and then remarried with her by my side. She always knew when I was upset and she would never leave me and would always lick my tears away. We survived a tornado together- seriously. I held her on my lap as our house was destroyed and she peed all over my lap (and I probably did too!). She was there the first time I lost someone close to me- my beloved Granny Perkins. She was there for me when my Papa followed a few years later. She made it through me bringing two baby boys home. I remember when Brian was a newborn and she would race to his crib every single time he whimpered. I could type all night about my memories of her. Bless her heart, she endured so many doggie sweaters and bandanas before I had human babies to dress. But she loved it and let me do whatever I wanted.

My heart hurts so bad. I hate when people say things like "it's just a dog" because it is so much more than that. She taught me to be a mama before I became a real one. This afternoon, when she was so close to the end, she still managed a tail wag when she heard my voice. When I called to tell my dad the news, he said "she wasn't just a dog. She was a gift" and he was exactly right. A gift that I am so thankful that God gave me to treasure for almost 14 years.
As bad as it hurts, the joy is greater than the pain. God gave man the joy of animals as just another way to show love. And I can't wait to see her again someday. My beautiful, Lady Girl. Thank you for your faithfulness and love to me.