Lucy

One day I went to the grocery store in Ely, Nevada. It was an ordinary day, that is until I parked. There in the parking lot was a man with puppies in a box. There was only one puppy that had not been claimed and she was shivering from fear as much as from the cold. I think she knew her fate would not be good if someone did not take her from this man. I looked at her and just kept on going, determined not to take her home. For some reason I hurried through the store, picking out my groceries and checked out. The man in the blue truck was getting ready to leave, as he got in his truck I waved at him and he stopped. "Did you find homes for all the puppies"? I asked. "No, this one is headed to the lake". That was just not going to happen. "I'll take her". My thought was to find her a good home. But, Lucy knew different. She worked her magical charm and wormed her way deep into my heart.

At the time I had just started a small daycare business. How was I going to house train a puppy and take care of the kids at the same time. That was the least of my worries. There was one little girl that seemed to take care of Lucy. Tanya would help take Lucy outside for her daily duty, she was only allowed to do her business on one side of the yard. Tanya was very good at seeing to this. Feeding Lucy and making sure there was water in her bowl became the responsibility of the children I cared for. All the little ones could not wait for their turn to take care of Lucy. Nap time would come and Lucy would curl up to someone and sleep next to them.  Lunch time was especially fun to watch. Lucy always found little bits and pieces on the floor to nibble except on macaroni and cheese days.

As Lucy grew she became the protector of the kids. She would walk around the yard while they played and just made sure everyone was okay. So many times throughout the day I would catch the little ones tugging on her or giving her the biggest hug. She was so gentle with the kids.

We left Ely and moved to Montana. It was very cold here and she loved the snow and the wide open spaces. She would run up the mountain and survey her kingdom. Where she went I'll never know but she seemed to come back and check to make sure that the house had not moved. She'd come back and sleep by the wood stove for a very long time. Lucy did everything with us, she went everywhere we went and was such a great traveler.

In my sewing room she always chose the middle of the floor to stretch out and sleep. Stepping over her to get the the cutting table or the iron was always a challenge. Sometimes she would let out a moan, as if to say,"can't you just sit still and do your thing"? Sometimes I felt like I was invading her space.

St. Patrick's was the most horrible day of my life. The day started out normal like any other day. Except for one little thing. Lucy would not leave the office and come downstairs. I had an errand to do and left for a couple of hours. Upon returning I was met by my other little dog, Cooper. Lucy was not to be seen. I called for her but she did not come.  I flew up the stairs to find my Lucy in great distress. Her breathing was awful. I called our Vet and loaded Lucy in the car and drove like a mad woman to Billings, 45 miles away. I kept talking to Lucy trying to reassure her, begging her to hang on, glancing in the rear view mirror I could she was trying to get to the front of the car. I drove faster, glanced back again and witnessed her take her last breath, lay her head down and she was gone. Just a few more minutes and I be at Caring Hands Hospital. The traffic seemed to crawl, every light turned red just as it was my turn to go, time was passing to fast and I was going to slow. Once there, I jumped from my car, Trish was coming out the back door and she helped me get Lucy into the hospital. I knew she was gone and yet I hoped there was some chance she was still alive.

Dr. Kuhen listened for a heart beat and found silence. The tears were coming fast and furious, questions of what did I miss, how did I not see this, why??? Try as they might consolation was very far away. Decisions could not be made, call Matt was the first thing I thought of, he will know exactly what to do.
Once I heard his voice I felt so much better. We made the decision to leave her there for the night and pick her up the next day. We need to make sure that the ground was not frozen, so that we could bury her at home. Thank goodness, Matt was able to dig her grave and we laid her to rest in a special part of our garden. We are still feeling the pangs of missing her. Our sweet Lucy, only she could love us in her special way. March 17, 2011 was a very sad day.