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Monday, February 21, 2011

Are You There, God? It's Me, Lilac's Person...

Dear God,

I'm pretty sure you have a sense of humor.  I suspect that over the last eight years, you've had some good belly laughs over some of the things we've been through with Lilac.  As a matter of fact, I have to wonder if you sent her here to us for your own amusement.

First, there's that penchant she has for thievery.  When she first came to us, it was mainly trash can raids that were harmless.  That night when she stole all the chili cook off taste cups out of the trash while all of hubby's family was in the basement was an extra special memory that we'll cherish, though.  Dogs and chili do not mix.  Oh, how you must have laughed first as we cleaned up hoping nobody would come upstairs to the mess and then as we tried to sleep through vapors that probably had our whole village glowing nuclear green from the heavens!

Of course, there's that sweet habit she has for showing her appreciation for a good meal, too.  She walks up to us with that sweet adoring expression before belching in our faces like a truck driver.  We fall for it every darned time, too!  I wonder how many times you've slapped your knee over that one.

We also have the secret thrill she gets from chewing up bits of paper, or even magazines, on the occasions when she's suffering a fit of pique, too.  My favorite was the time she chewed the little piece of paper that had those tiny extra elastic strings for my nook cover attached.  Did you laugh until you cried when I had to extract them since they didn't quite make it all the way through?  I have to say, I'm still not too amused by that one myself.  I thought at some point she'd grow out of that habit, but this happened just a month ago.

Then we have that habit she has of waking us up at 3:30 in the morning.  Has that joke not gotten old after two years?  I mean, I could laugh about it back when it was just half an hour before the alarm went off, but we have to get up and go to work.  Maybe it's the sleep deprivation that keeps me from seeing how funny that is.

Along with that, we have the random barking.  Didn't you get the memo we got from the adoption group about how Greyhounds don't bark?  I'm trying my best to keep her happy, but it's hard to tell the "fluff my bed appropriately" bark from the "I need to go outside NOW" bark and the "move the fan two centimeters to the left" bark.  They sound a lot alike and are often barked from the same position in the living room.  Does it amuse you to see me jumping through her hoops to make her happy?

I suppose I should mention those surprise murder scene sites that we become victim once in a while, too.  Why does she always have to break a nail when we're getting home late and tired or trying to leave the house in a hurry?  If this is a lesson in patience, consider it well learned.  Really, we don't need to repeat this lesson anymore.  I promise!

Anyway, I'm happy that we've been able to provide all these years of entertainment for you.  It's been worth it to share the sweet moments in life with her.  I'd forgive her anything when she gives me that devil may care look or presses her head to my chest or wraps around my neck and squeezes.  I freely admit that I've become a better person by sharing these years with her.  I have to be more patient and compassionate than I was when she came here.  I'm just asking for one thing.  You know she's getting pretty long in the tooth.  She's a wise elder in Greyhound years.  I'd like to wrap her in bubble wrap and protect her from everything in the world, but she's still a bossy and independent old lady.   Please, one of these days when the time comes, let her just go to sleep one night and not wake up.  I just don't have the heart to send her into the gentle sleep on my own.  I think that's a fair trade off for all the amusement we've given you over the years.

Love,
Lilac's Human Servant

We'd like to send our sincere condolences out to our friend Guinness' dad.  He lost his battle with stomach cancer over the weekend, and really made me think about how short our time of stewardship is with our beloved canine companions.  Our dogs would all be perfect if they'd just live forever, or at least as long as we do.

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29 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing these precious and funny moments..

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  2. What a wonderful, heartfelt post - we're a bit leaky after reading it. So beautifully written - and could only be written by a dog owner! I think we can all recognise a little 'joke' that goD has shared with us via our dogs - I know I do.

    Lilac - we hope you have many years in you yet but JD and Max would certainly like to say, right here and right now, that they have learnt a lot from you about free-will and dignity and JD especially says 'paws up' about that 'belch in your face' trick, as he gets us every time with that one too!

    Schnauzer snuggles - JD and Max

    PS - JD would like to send a gooey nose-kiss to Morgan!

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  3. aw Lilac... such a character.... Barbie whines rather than barks when she wants something but I still think it's a myth that they don't bark!

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  4. What an awesome post. It must be in the air because I could write a similar post about Lola. She's been a handful lately and my patience has weakened a bit. Thanks for the smiles and I'm sure God heard you.

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  5. Sometimes you touch me so deeply with your writing, I don't know what to say. Except I loved it. And it sounds like God is probably laughing his arse off!!

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  6. What a lovely ode to a lovely girl. How can you not help but smile and love her?

    We are also very sad for your friend Guinness. It never quite seems fair.

    Big hugs, HoneyBuzz

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  7. A truly sweet post to sweetie Lilac! It took me a bit longer time to finish reading as I was treasuring every word and sentence of yours to Lilac. They are full of love and the love made my eyes a bit misty too!
    Bless the girl and you too!!!

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  8. Awwwwe, dis made me laugh and then cry. What ummmmmm....wonderful meories you will always haves of Lilac. They don't seem fun and amusing at da moment but they will be.
    Mum has thought bouts dat moment when it's our time as well.

    We idn't knows bouts Guinness' dad...thanks furs letting us knows.

    Puddles

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  9. Oh my, I think I may be in love ...dear Lilac and I sound like we were made for each other. Has she ever stolen a whole pizza, I have! How does she feel about shorter guys?

    Your pal, Pip

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  10. Your Lilac is even funnier and quirkier than I knew. I loved your story, making me laugh, especially because she reminds me so much of our departed guy, S. Tears for your last paragraph. I wish that they lived so much longer.

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  11. What a touching and thoughtful post! Our time with them is way too short, but so sweet!
    Lilac is certainly a character:)

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  12. Wow, this is a beautiful post. It's really deep and heartfelt, and brought back from the brink of weepy with a good dose of humour. =) We're sorry for guiness's dad, but we do hope that you have plenty more time to spend with Lilac. *hugs* Can't help by reiterate how inspirational and touching this post is.

    Summer

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  13. I loved your post, and thank you for speaking about Guinness. I wish Guinness would have gone in his sleep peacefully but it was not to be. As hard as it was and with it happening after just a week after we knew he was sick at all, I could not let him go surrounded by strangers and chose to have him go while looking into my eyes, while being in my arms. Again, thank you very much-it took me three times to read through your post, I kept having to stop and dry my eyes, and laugh at the funny parts-I forgot did the burp in the face thing many a time till I read about Lilac doing them. Give her a hug for me if you would :)

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  14. That Lilac, wot a character! She makes me BOL but fur some odd reason, mom feels sympathies for Lilac's mom. I dussn't unnerstand why. It do be our jobs to keep our hoomans on their toes and in shape so we dussn't outlive THEM!

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  15. This is one of my favorite posts. Lilac is a girl after my own heart! She is so spunky and yes, hilarious. Seriously, God knows exactly what we need and DOES have a sense of humor in how to give it to us. My two girls have taught me so much, and will for sure help me to be a good mom when the day comes.

    Kitty and Coco's Mom

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  16. What a wonderful post. Made me laugh and cry. The hardest thing we as humans must do is sometimes being responsible to make that final decision. I too have become a better person and learned so much from my furbabies.
    Karen

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  17. We are so sorry to hear about your friend. And you know Alien will be heartsick if anything happens to Lilac!

    Me too.

    Hugs,

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  18. Bless your heart!! I have always rescued dogs and you never know what you are going to get, but I must say I have been so lucky!!!! Never had one with a bad habit I couldn't brake!!! Thank you God!! I have the best dogs in the world!! Thank you God!! Of course the very best dog was Bruce!!
    Thank you God!! Bambi is really close tho!
    xx. Bambi & Fern

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  19. I think this post is something all us previous dog owners can relate to. Looking back and knowing that the time with them is getting shorter.
    I hoped that my last dog would pass on in his sleep, it was not to be, but you know when the time is right, I got the feeling with my last two dogs that they were telling me its time to take the pain away. even when it breaks your heart in two.
    Jan xxx

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  20. Such a lovely, wonderful written piece! This ending is something we wish for all of those we love, 2 legged and 4 legged, when it is their time.

    Thank you so much sharing,
    Minnie and Mack and their humans

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  21. Great stories! I got a little teary-eyed at the end, I admit. I worry about that day, as well, even though it's further in the future for us. To quote A. A. Milne by way of Winnie-the-Pooh, "If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you."

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  22. Lilac is a lucky dog to have humans like you! She looks very happy too! :D

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  23. I am definitely tearing up. Why can't our dogs live forever? Even though my dog is still young, I know the years will fly by. It's so hard to think about it and sometimes I wonder why we put ourselves through this, but then I read posts like these and I know. Every little memory is worth whatever pain we feel. I wouldn't give it up for anything.

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  24. What a sweet and tender post. She is certainly a wonderful friend.

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  25. I love the senior ladies, probably more than anything. There is something special about them. This was such a beautiful post.

    Since we have sent more hounds to the rainbow bridge than most people have had in their lifetimes, I know your prayer so well.

    Our little Foxy Roxy is 14.5 now, she's so vibrant despite her little poops that fall out of her butt. This little girl has wrapped herself around our hearts... I don't know what we'll do.

    Two weeks ago I got a call from someone we adopted to over six years ago. Barney will be 13 this year, they are moving out of state next week and yep, you guessed it, Barney isn't moving with them.

    Barney had been a foster for about four months. He was a great dog. I called Karen at work and without skipping a beat, she said he would come back to the gardens. I said, "Karen, he's almost 13, we'll be holding his paw when it's time." She said, "Terri, that's what we do because we love them."

    He's not the first 13 year old we have brought home for another family, no questions asked.

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  26. Ah, it sounds like Lilac would need some sassy pants to wear with that bubble-wrap jacket! I hope that your get your wish when the time comes, but just in case, remind yourself that you can and always will do what's best for her and she knows that. That's true love!

    Still laughing about the nuclear chili incident ...
    -Chandra at Daley's Dog Years

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