Today was not a good day…….
It was inevitable, we knew this day would come when the vet discovered the tumor in Chica’s stomach. People have a tendency to pretend that all is well even with reality looking at them, telling them something different. Today, reality caught up with us.
In the back corner of our lot I dug a hole large enough and deep enough to lay her down. Even with the tractor it took some time to get to the right depth. As I mindlessly worked the controls for the backhoe, my mind wandered back to better times. I remembered when I bought a new book on training your puppy to be a hunting dog, within a few days Chica let me know her thoughts by shredding that new book, hardcover and all. I remembered the time one morning when Doreen picked her up and set her on the bed next to me where I was still sleeping. Chica promptly crawled over and almost took off one of my nipples with her needle sharp puppy teeth. When we would come home from work she was always their waiting for us with a big smile on her face. Don’t ever believe that a dog can’t smile.
After I finished digging the hole, I walked back to where she had laid down to rest. Through the tears, I thought for sure I had seen some movement, as if she were breathing. I knelt down and began shaking her and calling her name, I think I even convinced myself that she didn’t feel as cold as she had earlier. Once again, reality was there to remind me that she was gone and would not be coming back. The other three dogs all seemed to understand that something was different. Osa whined and licked her on her face, Vinnie pawed and barked at her trying to get her to play. I don’t think Jaeger knew what to make of everything, he just stood back and stared at her intently, his brain trying to process what was happening.
Doreen helped me load her into the bucket on the tractor and I slowly drove her down to her resting place. Along the way I could have sworn I could hear the soulful sound of bagpipes drifting up and out of the fog covered green belt. She would have deserved it. We laid her down as gently as we could, then by hand we began to fill the hole with dirt, making sure to break up any of the big dirt clumps. The last thing I saw of her was a little patch of white on her muzzle. I tossed another handful of dirt to cover it, and it hurt because then I knew, we would not be seeing her again.
Today was not a good day, today we buried our Queen……. And we will miss her.
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