Lucy

Our wonderful 16-year-old Lucy died this week.  We had been preparing for it for about a year because she was getting so old, but it still was a shock.  She was deaf and getting cataracts plus arthritis.  She was still pretty healthy though and was running around.  The vet said that they've seen mutts like her live until they were 17 before, so that's what I had in mind.  She adored the kids, especially Sam.  She loved the daycare kids so much too.... Especially Ben. She never got grumpy and never nipped. She whined at the door whenever I cooked dinner.  When she was a puppy she would pull on my gloves whenever I went to weed in the garden.

As far as I can tell, she died the night of Dec 23rd. Seth heard something at the library/computer room door before bed.  The next day we didn't see her wandering and we were busy getting ready for Christmas.  I sent Sam out to check on her before we left for our Robertson Grandparents.  Since she's deaf you have to search for her instead of call for her.  Sam checked her favorite spots and found her by the library door dead but with her legs at weird angles. I think she slipped on the stairs and broke her back on the 23rd in the evening.  It was so sad, and it took us a minute to cry, talk about death and compose ourselves before going to the Robertson's.  I'm not the kind of person that has to have their animal with them constantly or that thinks of them as their baby.  I am grateful though.  I liked having her all through our kids growing up with her.  She was a very gentle dog and perfect for the daycare.  I'm grateful that she never got to be mean at the end of her life and that she was still relatively healthy.