Discovered by my wife Debbie and daughter Cynthia on a roadside in a cardboard box one October morning in 1999, the abandoned black pup (later to be named Angel) came into our lives. Hungry and shivering with frost on her back, Debbie drove Angel to town and bought breakfast at a fast food restuarant and shared it with her. This was a start of a bonding friendship that would last 13 1/2 years.
Angel the mixed black lab/pitbull and maybe boxer lived a good life until father time and the fact that dogs age faster than humans took its toll on her body. To know Angel was to love her. She was easily housebroken and loved petting and 'THE AGONY'( a ticklish spot in her top hind leg that when Debbie done it Angel would curl up , back legs kick out and twist her body back an forth. She liked it and looked forward to it when Debbie was close by).
As a pup and young dog growing up Angel and Debbie were almost inseparable. Whenever Debbie was at work or shopping Angel would mope around and wait impatiently for her arrival at home. When Debbie did arrive home Angel would greet her with tail wagging and puppy licks to the hand letting Debbie know how much she missed her. Angel would get worrisome and do a little whine and get up and look out the window at the driveway whenever Debbie had to work over. She could even recognize the sound of Debbie's car when it drove up the road leading to the driveway without even seeing it. With so many dogs being abused or left abandoned , I feel as if Angel was truly one lucky dog to have my wife find her and take her in and give her the attention and love that all pets seek in life.
When Debbie brought Angel home that first day I was hesitate in having any more pets since just a few short years ago, before Angel, we had to make the tough decision of putting down "Rosco" a Basset hound who suffered from health problems. Rosco was only around 6 years old. Debbie assured me that she and Cynthia would take care of Angel if I agreed to let them keep her. So i said okay but we would have to have her spayed. They accepted my request and Angel was spayed as soon as the vet said she was old enough.
Over time the next few years I found myself becoming attached with our new member of the family. I soon started a walking regimen back through the wooded areas behind our place to lose some body weight and Angel would be by my side as i would walk the mile or so trails through the woods. Even when I didn't much feel like walking somedays she would be there waiting at the gate at the same time I would take my walk each day. In the summer time I would sit in my rocking chair on the front porch with Angel close by, near the steps her favorite spot. Her favorite spot in the yard would be the backyard on top of a sloped bank where she could see the driveway on her left and Debbie's parents house to her right.
Two memories come to mind that put a smile on my face. One is the time we let her out one summer night and she got sprayed by a skunk. Oh My! She could not come back indoors so Debbie slept with her on the front porch for the next two nights until she bathed her enough to knock down the skunk odor. The other time was when she chased a neighbors cat up a tree one evening. The one thing Angel disliked was cats and this was an old tomcat that climbed a short way up the tree in my inlaws backyard. With the tomcat growling and spitting and Angel barking and yelping it sounded like they were in a fight when actually all it was just noises as both of them could not reach each other. Debbie and I had to take the leash and flashlight over and end it.
As Angel got older around 10 years or so she started developing arthritis in her back leg joints.The animal vet put her on meds which helped to some degree put it still effected her now and then. She started to gray especially around the mouth and neck a sign that now she was considered a senior dog. Somewhere around the 12th year she developed a knot on her back near the tail that caused us some concern. It did not seem to bother Angel, still we took her to vet and they ran some tests and everything checked out ok. But when it got to about the size of a golfball we agreed to have surgery to remove it.
During the last 6 months or so of her life, Angels health started to deteriorate as she began to pant heavily at times even when it was cold weather, begin shedding hair more and had a few seizures. She started losing weight due to loss of appetite. She also had a couple instances where she would just lay down and did not want to get up in the the middle of a walk over to Debbie's parents house next door. A trip she had made a thousand times before. She would have to be carried the rest of the way. In my mind the terrible thought arose that very soon Debbie and I would be faced with the decision to end her suffering by Euthanasia.
But just when it seemed unavoidable Angel would perk up somewhat and do alright for a few days up until the weekend of March 9-10. She started to pant excessively and would make a hacking noise such as a cat trying to cough up a hair ball. Debbie took Angel back to vet office that Monday March 11 to talk it over with the vet about what to do . A few more tests and xrays were done and Angel was back home that evening and everything seemed okay until after supper around 7 o clock. Angel started to have what seemed like another seizure this time I noticed she was making a wheezing noise as though she had trouble breathing. With in a few minutes Angel seemed as she would be okay. Debbie phoned the vet and told him what had happened tonight and the vet told Debbie the prognosis was not good for Angel as the Xrays shown an enlarged heart and the tests revealed cancer and that her quality of life would be going downhill fast. Although the meds would help some with the pain there was no cure.
Around 8 pm that evening Angel fell back on her bed wheezing for breath and started jerking as my daughter Cynthia and I pleaded for her to live she drawed her last breath and was gone from this life. I do believe Angel fought it off as long as she could but I feel as I looked in her dying eyes she knew she had been loved. As we come to grips that she is no longer around we realize just how much a part of the family she was and forever be.
I still catch myself looking for her in her favorite spots or licking my hand while I am sitting or asleep letting me know she needs to go outside or giving me the sad look when its suppertime and she is bumming for a scrap or when I bring home a fast food bag and she would give that whine at the back door wanting in to bum me for a chicken nugget. As Debbie struggles with the thought that she did not do enough for Angel I remind her that she gave Angel everything a dog wants in its life and that is a home where she was truly loved and not a roadside ditch left to die as a pup. Thank You Angel for the wonderful memories you left in our lives. We shall never forget you.
"Those we love don't go away,
They walk beside us everyday.
Unseen, unheard, but always near,
Still loved, still missed and very dear."
Forever in our hearts--Kevin, Debbie & Cynthia