Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Missing Willie

A friend of ours had to put their dog down a few days ago. As I read the email detailing Roscoe's last day with our friends, my heart ached for our dear dog, Willie, that we had to put down 2 1/2 years ago. Almost 3 years, and my heart still aches for him. For weeks after he died, there were times when I would lie on the floor, sobbing, unable to to grasp how much sorrow I felt. I was astonished at the pain and grief that I felt over the loss. After all, he was just a dog, right? So wrong. I loved the little guy terribly, even though he was, frankly, a really big pain in the butt. He ran away a lot. He shed like crazy. He had epilepsy, and the twice a day medication and trips to the vet sometimes got to be tedious. Ironically, it was not the epilepsy that took him from us, but we never did find out what started making him bleed internally that day. In the morning he was fine, but by the afternoon, he was gone. He was so dorky and he always made us laugh. The photo below is from the day we came home from church and found him walking around the kitchen with a trashcan lid around his waist- how he managed that, I have no idea. And he was so loyal, and so trusting and so loving. He is forever in our hearts. I miss him terribly, more than I could ever imagine...
I just write this because as I mentioned, the grief and sorrow I felt after we lost him took me completely by surprise, and still does. I still tear up as I write this. I feel for my friends, I know exactly what they are going through. If you have been through this, you know what I mean. If you feel intense pain over the loss of a pet, you are not crazy. They have a way of working their furry (or feathery, or scaley...) little selves into our hearts. I will always be grateful for the joy that Willie brought to our family, and even for the pain, because it reminds me of this great capacity for love that God has given us, even for a fat little epileptic pain-in-the-neck dog.

2 comments:

  1. Awww, I'm sorry to read about your friend's dog, and yours as well. We have a min. schnauzer whose name happens to be Roscoe. He has been with us for almost 10 years now and it is difficult to think about life without him. They become such a part of the family and our lives.

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