Heart Talk and Saying Goodbye…

One of the first week’s assignments for Brene Brown’s “The Gifts of Imperfection” course is to draw a heart and put in it the names of people whom you feel you can confide in and share your WHOLE heart. However, I decided to take a different perspective on it this time around…

This week, I had to say goodbye to my dog, Lucy. Lucy was very special to me because she was the first dog I ever brought into my OWN home. Loved by all and spoiled rotten, (lending to one of her nicknames, “The Princess Dog”), she had quite the personality. Always the entertainer,and royally stubborn, she often took after the comedienne Lucille Ball. Although I had actually had the name “Lucy” picked out before she was born, it fit her well and “I Love Lucy” was a phrased often used in our home, along with my horrible Ricky Ricardo voice saying “Luuuuuuuccccyyy” when trying to get her attention!

(A funny note: Just like the Lucy in the famed TV show, my Lucy also wound up “in trouble with the law” once or twice! After getting out of the fenced yard and slipping her collar at six months old, she actually got a police escort home, and I got a call in the middle of the workday beckoning me to come get her!)

Unfortunately, Lucy is also the first dog I have seen fall ill and have had to make the heart-wrenching decision to end the suffering for. After struggling with [what I thought were] bladder issues since June, Lucy suddenly went into full kidney failure just before New Year’s. Although an initial hospital stay and treatment offered a brief glance of hope, I knew shortly after bringing her home that she was on borrowed time. She was just not the bouncy, happy Lucy I remembered. She stopped eating completely this weekend–even turning up her nose at the “yummy” baby food they had introduced her to at the vet’s office–and once she could not move Monday night, I knew it was time. As we laid in my bed that night–a rare treat for her–I knew I was spending the last moments with my little doggie girl.

As I sat with her, again, in the vet’s office on Tuesday afternoon as she was sedated before getting the injection, I sat with her and whispered what a good dog she was and how much she had been loved. Although I had known in my heart for two weeks that this moment was going to come, I had had no idea what I would say to her, or even if I would have the “guts” to say it and sit with her as she slipped away. I’m now glad that I did. Despite all of her crazy antics, she knew in the end that I loved her for–not despite of–it all.

Lucy, this heart is for you.

“Joy Dare” Day 6

3 Things Fixed, Folded, Freckled

1. After going through many doggy gates and having Wonder Dog/Houdini get over every one of them, my dad fixed the gate so now she can’t get out and NO ONE can escape the house. This was important after one of my dogs escaped and darted out into the street, where he was struck by an oncoming car and died instantly. (Although Wonder Dog was not the one to let him out. It was just an instance of an excited, curious dog and some bad timing.)
2. I have a new 365-day devotional by Women of Faith called “Daily Gifts of Hope.” I LOVE it, but wonder why it has a fold in the cover? The book would stay closed fine without it, and doesn’t have anything special inside…
3. I LOVE the freckles on this dog’s snout, as well as the dog, herself! (This is Wonder Dog! She was rescued at 5 years old from the shelter after the loss of the one dog.)

        

“Joy Dare”- Days 3 & 4

I missed yesterday because I was working on another post, but I figure if I do two days in one I’ll still have 1,000 joys at the end of a year of logging!

Day 3- 3 Things Paired

1. I have a wonderful pair of Airwalk shoes that I’ve worn almost every day for the last 6 years. They aren’t made anymore by Airwalk, (despite my looking every year for a color besides my one red pair), so I always tell my dogs they better not go near them!
2. I have an odd pair of doggies. I actually have three, but my mid-size Cocker Spaniel and my little black Chihuahua are best friends. Despite differences in looks, ages and temperaments, they are always protecting each other, cuddling, and grooming!  (And they are both girls.)
3. I have a pair of lungs that really should not have made it this long, nor be in such great shape, for what they underwent in infancy. I’ve been complaining a lot lately about my breathing issues due to severe allergies, but really, it could be so much worse.

Day 4- 3 Things Shared

1. I actually just shared [gave away] a 365-day devotional by Beth Moore to my taxi driver today who was struggling and wanted to make sure she always kept her faith. I’m not sure how it happened–since I used to be an atheist–but I’ve become one of those people that strangers want to talk to about their issues of faith, even before they know I am religious or a lay minister.
2. I am looking at the stack of tupperware containers that one of my dear friends makes and shares meals with me in.
3. One of my other good friends wanted to share her love of crochet with me, so I am looking at a project I started two weeks–that, unfortunately, hasn’t made it past the “chain” stage!