It was a Friday, and I was going to volunteer at the
dog pound. Well, I walked in and there she was. The
most beautiful dog I had ever seen. Half German
Shepherd, half Doberman Pincher. She was about three
months old and went by the name Lucy. She had been
found with her tail bloody and raw. Some un-kind human
being had wrapped a rubber band so tightly around her
tail it had partly fallen off. She was so innocent
looking and from that moment I was hooked.
Two weeks
of begging and finally my parents gave in although
they still had their regrets because we already had
two dogs and several cats. That regret disappeared as
time progressed and they saw what a difference she
made for me. She brought such joy into my life I could
never repay her for all she did. She was my shadow and
I hardly went anywhere without her. Then one day in mid
February, it happened. What every pet owner fears. My
baby left me physically. She was chasing one of my
other dogs and was struck by a car. It was my brother
who found her, we had been searching for her because
she and her sister had decided to go for a walk
without us and dashed out the door. He came running up
to my mother and I yelling " She's been hit!!! She's
been hit!!!"
My first response was "Who?" and those
words hit my ear, my world stopped, my heart froze, and
my life came crashing down. It was Lucy, my beloved,
my baby. It was only a month until her first birthday.
Surely she'd be okay and she'd celebrate it with me.
How wrong I was. My mom had not allowed me to come to
the vet because she knew what a wreck I would be. I
had to go home.
I decided to walk Pebbles, another of
my dogs. We were walking on a very familiar path. Lucy
and I had walked it every day for the past two months.
It was me and Lucy's path and it was dark outside. I
gazed at the stars and then, my dad drove up. I got in
the car and we were heading to the vet's. I asked if my
mom had held her yet, and that's when he told me. She
hadn't lived, we wouldn't be celebrating her first
birthday together physically, I just couldn't believe
it, I was in total shock.
I ran into the vet's and
hugged her. I'll never forget how she looked, barely
cut couldn't possibly be dead. But she was. And as far
as I was concerned so was I. I just sat there and
petted her for what seemed like hours. I thought if
I just kept petting her she wouldn't leave me, but she
did. I wasn't myself for months. I missed her too much
and needed something to come home to. Although I had
other dogs it wasn't the same. One was my dad's and
the other was my little brothers and neither of them
felt the same when I held them. I didn't have the
sense of security I had had when I held my baby. I
would never be the same. It has been about a year and
a half since that faithful day and I'll never forget
it.
Nicki Christensen
dumbblonddog@yahoo.com