Lakeland College

Goodbye Dear Friend
Posted on 8/25/2008 2:58:56 PM

This blog will otherwise be titled "Ode to Elmo."  This sweet boy was a part of our lives for a year and a half.  We adopted him after his owner went to jail for his fifth drunk driving charge.  Elmo was considered to be "difficult to adopt" - he was old (11), huge (130 pounds), and epileptic (controlled by medication).  Those who considered adopting Elmo but declined due to these perceived strikes against him missed out on a lot.

Besides being old, huge, and epileptic, Elmo was loyal, loving, funny, and deeply concerned about our well-being.  He had been through a lot - and this had left him vastly insecure and needing to be near us always.  When he chose ours to be his forever home, he somehow knew that we would roll with his oddities.  We picked him up at a foster home on March 3, 2007 and promised him that our house would be his forever home.

As the days turned into months, Elmo slowed down and his legs started to falter.  He never lost his spirit and downright demanded two walks a day, even when his legs stopped cooperating.  He remained loyal, loving, funny, and deeply concerned about our well-being - no matter how tough life became for him.

On Sunday, August 10, we finally got the message that Elmo was tired of struggling.  He counted on us to make the decision to end his discomfort and as difficult as it was, it was one last thing we could do for him.  Every move was hard for him, he could only walk a block or so and even then he fell sometimes two or three times.  On our last trip to the vet, I told him that we kept our promise and our house had been his forever home.  I apologized for reluctantly walking him when I would rather have sat on the couch.  As a good friend does, he had long since forgiven me.  On that Sunday, I held him, cried with him, he licked my hand one last time and laid his head down.

The house is quiet now although once in awhile, I hear his chain rattle.  The other morning I could swear I saw him laying in his usual spot.  I am once again struck by the impact that a dog can make on my life - for that year and a half, he made life just a bit sweeter.