2008 Woodie Awards
A lament for the loss of a close friend
By: Ally Blankartz
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: Forum
Rarely can we claim to have found perfect companions; the perfect match notion is more fallacy than fact.
I consider myself blessed to have found a perfect companion in our first dog, Millie.
Millie had unparalleled intelligence and a sixth sense awareness to her family's emotions and overall physical wellness. But this is not a tale of her endeavors, nor of the family that misses her dearly. This is a tale of her destruction.
This is the recounting of my witnessing death effortlessly steal away from my family, our dearest companion.
Until that moment in my life's journey, I was never burdened with the sorrow of witnessing death escort another expired soul to their respected afterlife.
Cancer is absolutely the quietest of killers; it slashed Millie from the inside out. The only inclination of Millie's pain was reflected in her eyes. Each harrowing day, all of her agony was mirrored through her amber eyes.
We were not expecting a disease of this caliber to attack our pet. She was only seven, we were positive she could have lived for another five or even six years.
Death pays no regard to age, though, striking her down in one fell swoop.
Her starvation during the ensuing weeks instilled in me emotions I was not even personally aware I possessed.
In a twisted sense, her short period of suffering could be viewed as a silver lining; she was not burdened for long. It was less than a month from her diagnosis to her time of passing.
Since the cancer was waging an all-out war against her digestive tract, she was forced into a state of starvation. Everything that she attempted to digest was violently regurgitated within minutes. Pitiless, the cancer rotted away her appetite.
While the course of the disease lasted only a trifling amount of weeks the anguish that we witnessed in Millie's eyes was enough to drive me to tears on a daily basis.
We would try every method within our human power to force food into her dying stomach. This was death at its greatest; Millie rendered the greatest price for death's magnum opus.
I consider myself blessed to have found a perfect companion in our first dog, Millie.
Millie had unparalleled intelligence and a sixth sense awareness to her family's emotions and overall physical wellness. But this is not a tale of her endeavors, nor of the family that misses her dearly. This is a tale of her destruction.
This is the recounting of my witnessing death effortlessly steal away from my family, our dearest companion.
Until that moment in my life's journey, I was never burdened with the sorrow of witnessing death escort another expired soul to their respected afterlife.
Cancer is absolutely the quietest of killers; it slashed Millie from the inside out. The only inclination of Millie's pain was reflected in her eyes. Each harrowing day, all of her agony was mirrored through her amber eyes.
We were not expecting a disease of this caliber to attack our pet. She was only seven, we were positive she could have lived for another five or even six years.
Death pays no regard to age, though, striking her down in one fell swoop.
Her starvation during the ensuing weeks instilled in me emotions I was not even personally aware I possessed.
In a twisted sense, her short period of suffering could be viewed as a silver lining; she was not burdened for long. It was less than a month from her diagnosis to her time of passing.
Since the cancer was waging an all-out war against her digestive tract, she was forced into a state of starvation. Everything that she attempted to digest was violently regurgitated within minutes. Pitiless, the cancer rotted away her appetite.
While the course of the disease lasted only a trifling amount of weeks the anguish that we witnessed in Millie's eyes was enough to drive me to tears on a daily basis.
We would try every method within our human power to force food into her dying stomach. This was death at its greatest; Millie rendered the greatest price for death's magnum opus.
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Humane Human Being
posted 4/11/08 @ 8:44 PM EST
As a dog owner, I immediatley identified with the author's grief as their dog died. I still remember, love and miss my childhood dog, and dread the day my current dog begins to show signs of inevitable decline. (Continued…)
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