The Peach is Gone

The Peach is gone.  I met her a couple years ago.  A boxer. A big over-bite.  Sort of slobbery. A mug only a mother could love. She had stomach issues. She was on some kind of medicine, not sure what, I had to open her mouth and shove pills down her throat.  It was a sort of messy, slightly gross process.

Still, she a was in fine form when I first met her.  Once in awhile, one of her back legs would give out, and she'd sort of drag it. But that was rare, we didn't really think much of it.

Slowly, progressively, it got worse. Some kind of nerve disease. She was losing control of her back legs. About a year into the relationship, she was dragging herself along, sort of like Gollum from Lord of the Rings. When we went for a walk, she was determined, but now, both back legs were not working correctly.

It got so painful to watch her drag herself along, we finally got her a doggie wheelchair.  I'd put her in the thing and once she got acclimated, she could navigate around. No problem.  She was like a little doggie bumper car.

But the disease slowly and surely progressed. She got very thin.  She'd eat, but couldn't keep weight on.  Her little ribs were starting to poke through.  And her whole body would sometimes shake.  Still we had great times out on the beach. I'd throw a stick or ball and she'd romp around in that wheelchair.  She'd bark at the ball and wait for me to toss it again.

People would see her and smile.  It seemed like such a heart-warming story.  The little boxer who could. One time a guy came up to me and said, "There's a special place in Heaven for people like you." I don't know, just doing my job, right? I was the caretaker.

The more helpless she became, the less she could do for herself, the more I did for her, the closer we got.

Anyway, yesterday we took our last walk together.  It was a cold, bright day. We looked at the lake together. For the last time. Looked at everything with new eyes. The beach, the little grains of sand. Everything in it's place. Peach. Those big brown eyes. The furrowed brow. She looked at everything wide-eyed. Expectant. She took in the day.

And it was her last.  Goodbye dear friend.  It was great to know you. I promise I will not forget. Impossible to forget.