Lucy in the Sky with Gramma

Lucy, our beloved rescue dog, a little black Schnauzer passed away yesterday on 1.13.09. She has been with us since 6.30.07. Mariah and I found her on the busy street near our house on a hot summer day. There was a lot of construction going on during that time and here was this little black dog that was darting in and out of the traffic and looked like she had been rolled a few times because she was missing a lot of her fur on her back...she looked bad when we found her and I wasn't sure how badly she was hurt. She was given a good bath in the front yard and that's where I looked her over real good...she seemed to look fine other than being more than exhausted and lost.

On the TV was playing I LOVE LUCY when I brought her home, hence her new name...LUCY. She actually seemed to be saying to all of us, "Thank you for taking me in...I was so tired!"...she didn't eat for about 3 days and just slept! Took her to the vet and had her checked out, the doctor seemed to think she was ok other than her loss of hair on her back. He didn't see any broken bones or injuries, we estimated her age to be 10 or more years old because of the condition of her teeth. She was old, but that was ok with all of us...she needed someone to take care of her and 'she found her way to us'...Mariah keeps saying she's, "my dog"...so Lucy was always been Mariah's dog...

I tried for about 4 months to find Lucy's 'humans'...she was listed on http://www.petfinder.com/ for a long time and I had put out over 10 flyers around the area replacing them once they were weathered...I really tried to find her 'parents'...but after 4 months...it was time to take her back to the vet for a check up and to get all her shots up to date. That was the day I bought her a new red collar and a new red leash...she had a new rabies tag and I ordered one of those red heart plastic 'name tags' with her name, Lucy on it with my name and phone number...to me that was the day we officially adopted her! Lucy was now ours and she found us and her new forever home! Lucy needed to go to the groomers every once in awhile, because I believe she was a Schnauzer and she always looked better after being trimmed like a Schnauzer.

Lucy was a very sweet and loving dog...she was no trouble...she wasn't a hard to handle dog. She didn't have good eyesight or good hearing...but she sure did have a good sense of smell..she always knew when we were eating and food was around...she did have some pretty bad dining room manners which we all worked on and taught her how to wait till after dinner and she would get some left overs and lick the plates. She must have been living on the streets eating whatever she found for so long, because she preferred people food over dog food.

All of us accepted Lucy just as she was and enjoyed having her around. She slept alot and would get up when someone would open the front door...she enjoyed hanging out in the front yard for longer than just to go out to do her business. She was happy living with us.

We told people that this was her 'nursing home' and that she was living out her last days with a family that loved her. Mariah took it upon herself to 'train her'...taking her for walks around the back yard, sometimes for longer than Lucy really wanted to be led around on her new red leash. Mariah really enjoyed being 'the trainer' to Lucy and even would pick her up and carry her around when really she was too big to be picked up and carried by anyone. Lucy would let Mariah do whatever...they were good for each other. Lucy had Mariah and Mariah had Lucy!

In the last 3 months we all started noticing Lucy loosing weight and her fur started falling out...her hind legs started to wobble when she walked and she started having a much harder time getting up and going down the one little front and back door step. Lucy was failing and we knew her time would be soon. Jim and I discussed which one of us wanted to take her to the vet...not something anyone ever wants to have to do but we knew it was getting to be 'that time'...

I started having talks with both my children, especially Mariah to prepare her for when Lucy wouldn't be with us anymore. We would tell her that Lucy is getting very old and that one day she would be going to heaven to be with PaPa and PaPa Bird and Mimi & Molly. She gave me some funny looks, and she understood because she knows that PaPa and her two favorite Guinea Pigs, Mimi & Molly were in heaven.

After coming home from gramma Elizabeth's funeral the other day, I told her that one day soon that Lucy would be also with Gramma. Mariah was ok with that and said, "Lucy's old, we'll get a new dog"...Jim and I had to laugh because we just wanted to help our daughter move on with the idea that soon Lucy would be going to Doggie Heaven...our conversation wasn't at all about getting a 'new dog'...we're not in a hurry to get a NEW DOG, but certainly if the right little PAP Princess came along we (I) would jump for joy!!...we have enough pets around here to keep us busy and one less for a little bit will be a good thing! *For me anyway...since 'mom' is usually the one that is 'the main caregiver' to ALL our fur/fin/feathered/shelled family members!!

So Lucy passed away just 13 days after Gramma, now my mother-in-law has Lucy with her! We had a small funeral in the back yard and each said something nice that we remembered about Lucy...we all enjoyed Lucy for the year and a half she lived with us. Bringing her home and rescuing her from the construction traffic that we found her in was a good decision. We will miss her but more importantly...we know we did a good thing by taking her in and allowing her to live her last days with a family that really loved her and cared for her.

Lucy we love you and will miss you!

Mariah will miss you the most...I bought her a new little (teeny tiny)frog for our little 'frog tank'...that's Mariah's 'new pet'...a little tiny white Africian Frog that lives in a fish tank! And to things off...someone on the eve of Lucy passing...called us at 10:30PM and asked if we had room for a 'rescue' TURTLE...of course we are set up for 'helping' out...turns out this thing is BIG...as BIG as our 10 pound Land Tortoise Olivia!! So now we have added a 3rd turtle to our family of 'pond turtles'...

Lucy in the skies with Diamonds keeps ringing thru my mind when I think of our LUCY....will miss you Lucy girl!!!