Paw Prints On My Heart

Paw Prints On My Heart

So tiny in your cozy giraffe print fleece, your eyes cloudy with cataracts, and your little tongue draped out of one side of your mouth, no longer held back by your teeth which were now missing. You were a picture of sweetness and age. Your mom said you could no...
Pawprints On My Heart: Entry #4

Pawprints On My Heart: Entry #4

You were in the kitchen sleeping in a cozy bed shaped like an igloo—a soft and warm spot for you to rest.  You purred so loudly when pet, rubbing your head into my hand.  Then the coughing and wheezing started and it seemed so hard for you to catch your breath.  You...
Pawprints on my Heart: Entry #3

Pawprints on my Heart: Entry #3

We met as you came barking to the front door. You wore a tiny white sweater that protected the wound that was not healing. They’d found cancer there, and it had spread to other areas of your little body. After barking your hellos, you laid down on your belly with your...
Pawprints on my Heart: Entry #2

Pawprints on my Heart: Entry #2

We met outside in the grass on a beautiful sunny day with your family gathered around–such a handsome black Lab. Cancer had spread from your nose, swelling your face and making it hard for you to breathe. You reminded me so much of my own Roly, who I’d lost when...
Pawprints on My Heart

Pawprints on My Heart

We met in the bathroom. You weren’t able to stand, and you didn’t even lift your head or wag your tail. That’s how I knew. A lab almost always musters a wag or a lift of the head. Your dad held your paw, and your grandmom spoke tender words to you. The first paw I’d...
Shaggy

Shaggy

The first dog to last long enough in our family to be called mine was Shaggy. We found Shaggy at an animal shelter in the summer between my 6th and 7th grade years. For reasons I don’t remember, my stepfather-to-be took my brother and me to an animal shelter. Perhaps...