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My Beloved Lucky


kayc

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Lucky was just 14 years old last August and passed away Nov. 19. I feel like she got gypped my mourning her, getting lost in my husband's abandoning us and dealing with all that was to come from that...I feel like I need to go back in time to Nov. 19 and start over, this time giving her the time and attention she needs.

Lucky was given to me when she was just two years old...at that time I had a busy family and her favorite person was my son, who had lots of energy to ride his bike with her and chase her around the yard. Lucky was a Whippet/Dalmatian, and she looked like a whippet with liver colored spots. She was beautiful and graceful and had the biggest brown eyes. She was a scaredy cat, we used to call her a whimpet...she'd tremble if you looked at her. She was the most gentle creature ever created.

It was old age that got her, slowly giving way to dementia and incontinence, deafness, blindness, and her leg giving out from under her. Lucky girl was the best trained little dog there ever was, eager to please, and up until 1 1/2 years ago, she always "grinned" when we came home...she'd curl up her lip and show her teeth...she even had a sense of humor and would laugh at something that was off (like if we called her by the cat's name instead of her name). I guess the sense of humor came from the Dalmatian side.

Lucky, I wish your life could have been longer and all of your days happy...I'm glad you didn't know that John was leaving us, it would have broke your heart as well as mine. You had many wonderful walks along the Columbia with us, many wonderful memories, I'm glad we got you in our lives. Now you are with George and George Cat, and Chappy, and Autumn and I hope you are happy while you wait for me and Miss Mocha and Skye. I love you, Lucky.

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Kay, dear, have you thought of any ways that you could memorialize Lucky, as a way of paying tribute to her? It's really never too late to do that, you know, and it may help you to feel better about "giving her the time and attention she needs." See, for example,

Delayed Grief: Parent Loss and Pet Loss

Funerals for Pets?

Memorializing a Cherished Pet

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Kay,

I understand your post. I had to put my dog to sleep the night my mom died. I too feel like I never grieved for him. It was such a blur . For a long time afterwards, I would forget he was gone and wonder where he was. And then I would remember. He was such a great dog. He was a Bernese Mountain dog. He had one blue eye and one brown eye. He was my shadow and sat on my feet anytime I quit moving. I like to believe he is with my mom and dad, they loved him too.

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Marty,

Thank you for your suggestions, I'll be thinking of a way to memorialize her. My son and I buried her and paid tribute to her the day she died, but then my grief was swallowed up right after that as it was just two days later that John didn't show up again and I decided on the divorce and that week he went missing and my whole world broke apart. Now that some of that is behind me, it's hitting me what a hole I have in my heart for Lucky...how her spot next to my recliner is empty...I've had to rearrange the furniture so it wouldn't continually hit me.

Ann,

I understand completely. It's hard when you have multiple tragedies occuring at the same time.

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  • 4 weeks later...

February 3rd I got a new dog...I had expected an adult but it turns out he is a huge puppy. He is very different than Lucky, I have to housebreak him, and he chews up everything, he hasn't been worked with at all, and he's one year old, already 70 lbs. He is very sweet and eager to be in my good graces. But as I've been working with him these past two weeks, it has made me appreciate my little girl, Lucky so much. She was completely trained and so rule-compliant. I never had to worry about her doing anything wrong, she was small and graceful. This one has already made a place in my heart, but I just want Lucky to know how much I appreciate her and miss her. I wish I could hold her one more time.

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Dear Kay,

If anyone has the patience and love to re-train a dog, it is you. We are puppy sitting this week and it brought back all the heartache of losing our own dog, especially for my daughter. She is her dad in so many ways and her connection with animals is really strong. (Bob liked dogs more than people. I thought he was Dr. Doolittle from the start.) This dog and I have bonded as this is one of many times we've watched her, yet she has done her own share of damage around here. Caitlin kept yelling that I was the one who killed Zeus...the only one she could talk to, in her words, after her dad died. I know she has no other words to express her loss of losing her dad and then her dog just a month later, so I don't take it personally. I just wish I could do more to help her. What I do is hold her and let her cry. Any advice, any thoughts, comments or suggestions backfire on me and escalate her anguish. So, seeing this animal, tearing into Zeus' own toys, was just too much for her. It doesn't seem we ever have ample time to mourn that which we have loved and lost. It just keeps coming and coming. Reading this, what you wrote, I had to agree, just one more time to hold our old pets, would help a lot of us.

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Kath,

I just had to share that Arlie has settled way down and is now housebroke, so from where he started and where he now is, I am amazed!

It is very hard losing pets, I still miss pets I lost many years ago and will continue to miss them until I can hold them again. To those who say they don't go to heaven, pooh! My God isn't foolish enough to waste a perfectly good dog or cat! I don't know about people, but the animals will definitely make it! :rolleyes:

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I raise my Pepsi to that! I look forward to seeing Zeus in Heaven! I often think of the reunion with him and Bob. Best friends, back together again. Yeah, it was a Hallmark moment. Bob probably looks like the dog whisperer with his "pack." He had many good dogs throughout his life. He didn't want to get Zeus at first because he didn't want to go through the pain of losing him. It was too hard on him. Then, they met and there was no doubt. We had our first baby! 74 pounds of happy dog.

Congratulations to Arlie! I love his name. How did you pick it?

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The animal shelter dubbed him "Arlington" and it just sounded too formal and long, so I shortened it to "Arlie". Besides, it's different from the usual "Fido" or "Rover". :P

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