I don't know why, but Lola's been probably my favorite dog I've ever had. I don't know that I've ever told the story about why she's so important, but she helped me out of a very difficult time in my life. In the fall of my junior year of college, I lost both of my childhood pets. They died within 2 days of each other and I was devastated. Being at school, trying to keep my grades up, being away from Dillon and my mom and dad, and going through a big loss and change to my life had my anxiety on edge. That junior year was awful. My nerves were on edge, I had trouble sleeping, and I was driving everyone around me insane. The summer before my senior year, I told Dillon that I wanted to get a dog. He told me to get through the last year of school and when I moved to Asheville he would take me to look for a dog.
Only I got to September in my senior year and my roommate came in and said that one of the models in our art department had picked up a little "yorkie" dog and was trying to find a home for it. I rushed up to the art department to tell this lady that I wanted it, and was greeted by this little mangy dog. She was thing and underfed, her hair was long down her back but she was so malnourished that the fur on her sides was short and falling out. I sat down at a seat in the classroom and held out my hand to her and she jumped up on me, shy but so sweet. And I fell in love. The lady who had found her on the side of the road told me that she would make a deal with me, she would pay to have the dog get all of her shots and to be fixed (Lola had recently had puppies and was NOT fixed), but I had to promise to keep her forever. The college students in my town were notorious for taking dogs during the school year but when they went home for the summer they'd just release their dog. I promised that I would keep her for as long as she lived and the lady set up an appointment for Lola that Friday. She would drop her off and I would pick her up and have my new dog.
When I picked her up, she was pitiful. I tried to get her to ride in the passenger seat on the way to my mom and dad's , but she kept crawling in my lap. I let her lay there for the hour long ride and got to my house where I introduced her to my dad. My mom pulled up and came in the front door and Lola started barking. My mom was SO mad at me for getting a dog, but after that day, my mom fell in love with her.
From that point on, Lola was the spunkiest little thing. She broke out of our apartment once and some students found her and brought her back. She'd ride with her head out the window in the car, but only until you reached 55 mph. That was too fast and then she'd have to come back in the car. She took off from us once at my first apartment, chasing squirrels. The only way Dillon caught her was because she stopped to pee. She also got away from me once at Dillon's apartment. I was walking inside and thought she'd be ok without a leash... Not so. She took off through the woods like lightning and then circled back to the house when the squirrel she was chasing came back our way. She was at our wedding. She and Emma tried to kill a groundhog once outside our house in Oakley and the thing was twice her size but she was taking it on. She killed moles all. the. time. She'd run off, but she'd always come home. One time, she crawled up on our kitchen table and ate the cheese off the top of the pizza and left the crust. Our friend went to eat a piece of the pizza and was shocked to see that there was no cheese left!
When we had babies, she took her spot in the background, but unlike Emma, she never growled at the kids. She took their tugs and pulls in stride. And slowly, she started slowing down too. The little wart on her arm has turned into a huge tumor. She can't make it down the stairs any more to go into the yard. Her little hips give way too often and she's not eating much at all. While it makes me so, so, so sad, I think it's time. Her spunkiness is gone and she sleeps most of the time now.
Lola is one of the coolest dogs ever and we will all truly miss her. I sat in the floor with her this evening and just cried, but she flinches when I pet her so I couldn't even really hold her. I know it's time, it just doesn't make it any easier.
I will miss her terribly. Our house will be so empty without our dogs. But I'm so glad I had her. She has brought me so much joy and laughter (and frustration at times) but I wouldn't change a thing. I hope that she finds rest and peace and no pain after tomorrow. I'll be glad to see her again one day, in no pain and at her prime. I love you, little Lols.
No comments:
Post a Comment