In Memory of Roxy...
1998 through June 2010.

Exactly six months after Lucy passed away, her "sister" Roxy had to be put to sleep due to a long illness with Lymphoma Cancer. I didn't realize under weeks and even months after Lucy died how devastating losing that dog was. She was so incredibly intelligent that even people who did not really like dogs a lot would come over and say, "If I could have a dog like THAT, I'd have a dog!". It was like losing a child. Then, to have to put Roxy to sleep only 6 months later - well, it's the reason I haven't posted on this blog in nearly two years.

Roxy was the Yang to Lucy's Ying. While Lucy was a very smart, precise, "in your face" type of an interactive dog, Roxy was the happy-go-lucky, goofy, somewhat dingy blond, dog. All she cared about is having a yard to lay in, being fed, and for you to scratch her butt a couple of times per day. A very low maintenance, and seemingly always content and happy, dog. But shortly after Lucy's death, the symptoms of her Cancer came out, and she began to have problems breathing, and her legs would start to give out on her. She went on high doses of certain drugs that for a time, helped, but they eventually also took their toll on her in their own way. Her body simply gave out completely, oddly, on the exact day I had arranged to have an at-home Veterinary service come to the house to have her put to sleep.

She was incredibly calm that morning and only barely took notice of the two wonderful women who came to do it. I said my goodbyes, had more than one uncontrollable cry before the final moment, and then with an injection, Roxy was gone... ending an entire chapter in my life of having "Lucy and Roxy" together like Thelma and Louise or Laverne and Shirley. The duo was gone.

Not a single day goes by when I don't think of both dogs, and the final dog Mandy is now nearly 14 years old and showing the signs of her age as well. I suspect she's in her last year of life herself, and I can only hope that unlike Lucy's sudden passing and my having to make the decision for Roxy, that Mandy will give me some luck and simply pass in her sleep when her time is here. Either way, once she is gone, the "dog chapter" in my life will be over, and I'll have to re-invent myself as a dogless person for a while at least (not easy, according to other dog owners I know).

If you have a dog, don't take your time with them for granted. Sometimes you know when the end is coming, but sometimes you do not. Treat them every day as though it's their last. - GH