About 6 months ago, one of our older dogs, Kelsey, died. She had been having health problems for a year or so and I knew it was time to let her go, but it was difficult, none the less. Shortly after she died, I wrote this tribute to her that I have decided to share here because I'm sure others have gone through the loss of a pet and have felt the same way. Here is a picture of Kelsey and her story follows.
I was there because I had decided to become a volunteer. I was in my late 40s. My kids were all grown and this seemed like the perfect time to volunteer for a worthy cause.
So, here I was and here was this dog. In those days, the shelter was terribly overcrowded. I was supposed to take the dogs out and walk them and this dog certainly looked like she could use a walk. So, I put the leash on her and off we went. You could tell that she was happy and thankful to be out of the pen. But, she didn’t pull and strain on the leash like most of the dogs. She bounced around and kept looking back at me, waiting for me and seeming to enjoy my company.
I went back a couple of times that week. Each time I checked in on her and took her for a walk. I worried that she would not be adopted because she looked so bad and smelled even worse. Finally, I asked the shelter manager if there was any way we could get her cleaned up and groomed. He said there was a groomer in town who would groom the dogs for free; we just had to find transportation to take them there. I told him I would be happy to take her to the groomer. So, he arranged an appointment and I took her to be groomed.
When I went back to get her, I could not believe my eyes. Here was this beautiful dog with long silky hair that smelled wonderful. It was getting late and the shelter would be closing soon, so I used that as an excuse to take her home with me to spend the night. I insisted to myself that I would take her back to the shelter the next day. And I did.
However, they had already placed another dog in the run where she had been. So, I had to leave her in one that did not have access to the outside. I hated to leave her there again as she looked at me with those big brown eyes. I knew it was only a matter of a few days until she would be a dirty, smelly mess again.
I can’t remember how long it was before I went back to check on her. It may have only been a couple of hours, but for sure it was less than 24. At any rate, I took her out of the kennel and into the shelter office. The manager asked if I was bringing her back. I told him NO that there had been a complication. The complication being that I wanted to adopt her. He wasn’t going to charge me the full adoption fee, but I insisted on paying it because they needed the money and she was definitely worth it.
Her name was Kelsey, or at least that is the name they had given her at the shelter, and it never occurred to me to change it. So, Kelsey she was. Her background was sketchy. She was a young dog, probably less than a year old. She was a mixed breed, but a little research quickly revealed that she was “mostly” Keeshond, thus the long hair and the spectacles around her eyes.
She came into a household that already had 2 other dogs. Lucy Dog, a little rat terrier mix, ruled the roost. She was a stray who had followed our son home from school one day, won our hearts and stayed. And, Cardinal, another shelter dog we had volunteered to foster, and who we eventually adopted as well.
Kelsey was the youngest one of the dogs and had the most energy. She used to lie under the wind-chime and chase the reflections that it cast on the ground in the sunlight. We found that she would chase flashlight beams as well. She never quite knew what to do when she actually caught the light, but she liked to play these games for a couple of years until I guess she outgrew it.
Our lives get busy, life goes along and slowly slips by. You begin to notice things about your dogs that make you realize they are aging …. a graying of hair around the muzzle, they no longer are able to jump up on the bed or the couch, they need help getting in and out of the car. You wonder how this has happened without you being aware of it. Where has the time gone?
Kelsey died last week. She was 13 or 14 as far as we could tell. Lucy and Cardinal preceded her in death. But, Kelsey’s death kind of marks the end of an era. The “era” being the time of my life between when my kids left home and the age at which I am beginning to think about retirement. Maybe this is what is making Kelsey’s death so hard for me to accept, the fact that with this dog’s passing, I see my own life slipping by as well.
I know there are people who would not understand my sadness at losing Kelsey. I also know that these people have missed one of God’s special gifts to humankind, the gift of loving and being loved by a pet.
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