Lucy

Our dog is old. She's somewhere around 88 if you're talking about "people years". All of us grown folks have been expecting the day when "something" happens to her. It looked like that day this morning.
We got Lucy when the boys were little. We didn't plan on getting a dog but I was cornered at a Christmas party by a young lady from church. She told me the puppies were going to the pound...tomorrow! She had two left in the litter, she just wanted me to "look" at them. I made it clear we didn't need a dog. I caved. She brought in the absolute cutest puppy I had ever laid eyes on. She was white and tan with the sweetest little face, part Cocker Spaniel, part lab maybe, she was a mutt but she was a beauty. I couldn't resist taking her home. She threw up in our van twice on the ride but we didn't care she was "OUR DOG". We changed her name once. She started out Holly because it was Christmas, but after a few minor calamities, like falling in the pond and getting stuck in a paper bag we changed it to Lucy, that one just fit.
I had justified getting a puppy by thinking she would be a good companion for me while I walked...I did give it a try, each time I would end up carrying her home. I also thought she would be a good watch dog, which to her credit she lived up to. She's always been very protective of "her" kids. She joined the family during the pacifier era. Matthan and Seth both had them, we were trying to get rid of them, somewhere there is a video of Lucy with a "passy" in her mouth, she helped in the destruction of the last few we had around.
She has been with us since Seth was not yet two years old. The boys don't remember life without her. The girls probably really don't remember what life was like without her either. She has been with us through good and bad. She took up with my mother after my dad died, she would go up to Mama's house and sleep on her back porch in a recliner that never made it to the thrift store. I'm sure she brought Mama comfort. One time she went missing. We called and looked for several days. I was distraught thinking she was lost. Then on Sunday as we were leaving church we were handed a message from Mama, "Come home, I have a surprise for you", I figured it was pot roast and potatoes...it was Lucy, sitting on the carport. We had no idea where she had been but she was a happy girl.
This morning Michael called me from the kitchen. Something was wrong with Lucy. When I got in there she was on her stomach with her four legs sprawled in every direction. She couldn't get up. I was afraid she'd had a stroke...I think dogs do that. I've known she was likely to because for years she's refused to eat dog food, for Lucy it's cat food or cornbread...those are her two preferences for any meal. I've been told cat food is higher in fat so it's not good for a dog? She's been eating like this for at least seven or eight years so I suspect her cholesterol is dreadfully high. She actually survived heart worms about ten years ago. Michael and I scooted her back on her bed and moved her to the wall out of the middle of the kitchen floor. She looked pitiful, I dreaded what the remainder of the day would hold. I pictured us calling Jere Colley to come with his truck to take our dead dog away. I dreaded the boys hearing the news. Matthan said he held his breath when he heard us say something was wrong, afraid it was "that day". We told Seth she was sick and he talked lovingly to her for a few minutes then we all went to church...On the way Seth (who had not left the house yet) called and told me that Lucy had just walked up and put her wet nose on him! Well, she was walking again, maybe she just needed some attention. She sure fooled us.
A little while ago I heard happy frantic barking and looked outside. Seth was holding Lissy's hands as she tried to stand up on her new roller blades, Lucy was walking around them barking and wagging her tail. I guess she decided she had some protecting left in her. Who knows she may live to be a hundred.