We lost our Missy last week.....

Last week was full of ups and downs. On the up side, I have been clipping hedges, tree limbs and lots of over growth in our back yard. Last year I didn’t do much clipping and the yard was beginning to look like a jungle out there. I decided to hire a young boy from our church to pick up all the chippings. He is trying to earn money for his scout camp and I decided he would be the perfect fit for this job. He came over in the mornings, while it was still coolish, to do the work. Well, last Thursday, he came with his younger brother and they started to work. I opened the gate so that the boys could come and go as they pleased. Missy, our dog, came out to keep the boys company. I usually don’t worry about her because she stays near the house and does not wonder. She played with the boys for a while and then went back into the yard.

I came into the house for a quick break and decided to wash the dishes, then I sat down to read the paper. TF got a call and he had to leave go do his job. He waved good buy and went outside. Within a few minutes, I heard Missy screech out in pain. I ran to the back door and TF was running in shouting that he had run over Missy. I looked outside and Missy was pulling herself thru the gate and to the back door. She wasn’t crying, but you could tell she was hurt. I ran for the front door and called Alec to come quickly. In the mean time TF grabbed a towel and gently placed her on it. He and Alec lifted Missy into my car and the boys and I took her immediately to the vets. All of this time, Missy never utter a sound of pain. I prayed that she was only slightly hurt, but it was not to be.

I vet put her on an examination table and had me pat her while she examined her. Missy is 13 years old and has been incontinent for the last year. The vet said that she was hard of hearing, which TF and I had suspected, and she had cataracts on both of her eyes. Her leg was fractured in several places and would need surgery. The vet gave me this look that I knew was no good. She said that with Missy’s age that the surgery would be tough and it might not take if she has soft bones. With being incontinent, hard of hearing, and almost blind the doctor said it would be better to put her to sleep. Tears were rolling down my cheeks and I could hardly see, but I called my husband and had the doctor tell him what she thought was the right thing to do. I know that I didn’t want “puppy”, which is what we called her, to suffer any more pain. Deep down inside I knew it was the right thing to do, we both knew that we had to let her go.

Dr. Marshall, consoled me and did what she had to do. Missy was gone in a matter of minutes. I went out to take care of my bill and had to tell the boys what had happened. Alec understood right away but his brother Joseph, kept asking when we were going to take Missy home. I had to explain that Missy was going to a different home where she would feel no more pain. It was hard walking out of that clinic without my dog….I cried all the way home. TF has really had a hard time with this because he is the one that ran over her….He hated to put her thru so much pain.

This is how a day can go from the top of the roller coaster to the bottom in a matter of minutes…..On the way home I explained to Alec, thru my tears, that life is like a roller coaster. We have lots of ups and downs and it doesn’t matter how many we have that counts, what matters is how we handle them…….end of story.

Sorry, no frugal news this post. Have a great week everyone. Check out TF’s blog, here to see a picture of our Missy.