Last Train to Clarksville

The Depth Of Our Being

There once was  a man who wanted a dog.  He married the girl of his dreams, that’s me, and always wanted his very own Chow Chow.  This girl was afraid of big dogs and didn’t want to have one but sacrificed her fear for the love of her man.

We had been married 5 years and had 2 children.  Erikka was 3 and Nick was a month old.  I was nervous about having a big animal around my babies.  I was bit once in the face and that stayed with me.  We were in Texas at the time, stationed at Ft. Hood and decided to go look at some puppies that were about 6 weeks old.  When we got there we saw the parents who were registered with AKC, Dad was King Ace and Mom was Queen Blackfoot, so we picked our puppy and named her Princess Angelica Agnew.  We had the name before the Rugrats even entered our home.

So, our Angel came home with us at 8 weeks and grew into the most wonderful pet we could ever, EVER ask for.  God blessed us with our Angel.  She has gone with us from Texas to Germany to Alabama and now as we have settled in Clarksville.

Our beloved pet taught our other “rescued” animals well.  She will live on in each of them.  We will miss her barking to go to the bathroom and then barking to let her in. We were always complimented how our animals were like humans. When ever Art would go TDY or even just to work, when he was not even pulling in to the driveway I knew he was home.  Angel would whine for her Daddy.  As soon as Art would walk through the door, the man and his dog would hug. She would bring herself to his level, standing on her hind legs and her paws on his chest like she was giving him a hug. It was really special to the both of them, especially when Art would come back from deployments.  Angel would chase Art around the house, yard and nip his calves.  He has the scares still of her friendly bites. I was told that she would do the same whining for me but she never jumped up on me.  That was her special hug for Art.

The kids, our children, loved her so much. Angel has been there for Nick and Debbie before they could remember anything else. Erikka remembers getting Angel. When they were little she would let them ride her, lay on her, take her for walks or really taking us on walks.  In Germany she experienced the snow and loved it.  She also had the experience of meeting a porcupine. She tried to bite it and it attached itself to her face. That was a site! She was able to shake her off.  When we moved into our current home, we didn’t have a fence yet and she saw some geese and ran straight for the water, not knowing it was going to be deep.  She jumped in and boy, she stunk to high heaven.  We had to shave all her hair off.  It was awful! But great memories.

We never were able to travel to places that much because we didn’t want to leave her alone.  We saw how she acted when we would leave just to go to work. She would mourn us and now we are mourning her.

It all came so sudden for us but looking back the signs were there.  2 weeks ago she started to limp a little and I just thought she was having a hard time walking on the hardwood floor with her nails not being able to grip.  She stopped passing that horrendous gas which might be something considering that the movie “Marley & Me” showed Marley having the same problem.  She tried to keep up, she didn’t use the bathroom as much and she was living on dog bones.

I had some people over on Saturday night and they all commented on her, wondering how old she was. I was so proud to say she was fixing to be 16 in June.  Later that night she was down.  We were able to get her up to go to the bathroom and then she came and laid where she always did, on my side of the bed, on the floor at my feet.  We woke up sunday around 5:30 hearing her snore up a storm.  She never snored like that and Art made a comment that even his dog snored.  I got up and started a day of rest.  It had been so busy lately, I just wanted to rest.  Around 12:30 p.m. I walked into my bedroom to put something away and noticed she was in the same spot with her eyes open.  I knew something wasn’t right. I tried to lift her head, even brought a bone in and she wouldn’t go for it.  When I lifted her head, she couldn’t even hold it up.

We made her comfortable and took her outside to get some fresh air. We made a picnic around her, fed her honey ham and the only way she could drink water was through a syringe.   We helped her stand and she made her last round in the back to use the bathroom.  It was something because even on her death bed she marked her territory 3 times around the yard. When she did I felt she was trying to leave something for the other dogs behind.  She knew…

We brought her inside and made a place for her at the same area she always slept. Her breathing was getting labored but she wasn’t showing signs of pain.  No whimpering or whining. Her eyes just showed love for us.  We took turns keeping her company by laying with her and stroking her.  As I type this, I just can’t believe my Angel girl is gone.

10 p.m. it was time for bed.  The kids made a pallet in our bedroom to be with her. We knew as soon as she closed her eyes to sleep she would go.  Erikka held her paw while she fell asleep and at 1:26 a.m. Erikka felt a jump and that is when Angel slipped into heaven to be with her family.  We had a family burial at 2 this morning and said our very sad goodbyes.

This post is my way of expressing my grief, to share my pain of losing a beloved, faithful and loyal pet of 15 years and 8 months.  We didn’t ever think she would leave us, she was such a part of us.  We looked at her like another child, not an animal.

In honor and memory of her, Angel, this is for you.  You are already missed beyond anything we could ever draw up from the depth of our being. God help us all in the days to come and beyond as we try and cope with this loss.

I love you Angel…..

1. Debbie Beach said at February 9th, 2009 at 5:33 am

   My heart aches with all of you. My p[rayers are with you druing this tender time of loss.

   I would like to make a donation in honor of your Angel.

   Something that would bring joy to the family she left behind and something that will leave an impact on her group of “special loved ones” because of who and what she was…Extraordinary.

   Please let me know what would be appropriate.
   Debbie

2. Bonita Vickrey said at February 9th, 2009 at 6:58 am

   It is so hard to loose a pet who has been a part of your family for a long time. Thank you for sharing. It touched my heart. As I know she touched yours.

3. Momma said at February 9th, 2009 at 5:12 pm

   Go gently finding peace in the midst of so much love for one so very special.

   I love you,
   Momma

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