I haven’t written in a while, there has been a lot happening in my heart. Some of that I can not even put into words, some of it I am not allowed to. This I can though. I have watched a lot of hard things this month, the month of gratefulness has come with a heavy heart. I have witnessed a lot of loss. I watched loss I never wanted to see, and loss that felt like the end of suffering. Today I experienced a little loss of my own, and while it in no way compares to the loss’ I witnessed this month it gave me a chance to reflect. So tonight I want to tell you about my Halie.
2008 was a season of great change, and hardships I had yet to experience. Shea my lover of all things dog decided I needed a companion and took me to pick her out. I had owned many dogs in my day but none in the comparison of what Halie would be for me. She was a miniature schnauzer, when I got her, Clay paid the pet deposit in my tiny studio apartment without blinking, because he knew how lonely my heart was. He was in medical school, and I had just moved to Tulsa and left behind everything I had known for 4 years . Halie saved me and loved me when I didn’t even know how to love myself. She went with me absolutely everywhere, she slept in my bed, there was nothing I did that she didn’t do with me. My parents will tell you I abandon a lot of animals at their house and I think secretly hoped she would live with them after the twins but I just could not part with my little best friend. She was Clay’s boo bear, she loved to snuggle, she loved to be a princess, and after the kids were big enough to share their snacks with her she decided she loved them to.
The night they airlifted me to OKC when I was in labor with the twins she experienced one of many to close for calls, our landlords called her the little yipper, and that night they went down to take our dogs home with them because it was freezing, our big dogs loved to swim and decided on a dip in the partly frozen pond before they went, Halie walked out to far and fell through the ice, and like the wonderful people they were they went in after her saving the little yipper from a near drowning experience. A year ago this week we almost lost her again, she suffered a punctured lung among other lacerations, they thought she may not make it but Doc saved our girl and she lived the last year a very pampered young lady, but when the weather is nice she prefers the luxuries of an outside dog.
For the last few months I had assumed that one of the toddlers in my supervision had uprooted my succulents, only to discover that Halie had uprooted them so she could sleep in the flower pot, never mind the beds in the garage for her she always preferred unconventional sleeping arrangements, we once kept an old car seat for far to long because it was her favorite spot. ( it eventually became the hiding place of a snake and I burned it like I do most things around here when they break) She lived a decade plus with me, and I am forever grateful for the heart aches she carried me through but today I had to say goodbye. It was not expected but as soon as I came back from lunch and saw her on the porch I knew, I got out and yelled to her and she came to me but the trauma to her head was extensive, I knew her head had been crushed, I scooped her up and ran into the house for a towel, and rushed her to the vet, my friend for the second time came to the rescue to retrieve my little people while I went with Halie, this time I knew it was the end. The man and wife at Blue River Vet were exceptional, and I held my fur baby as she crossed the rainbow bridge. Tonight I grieve but in gratitude that my God provided me with the perfect fur companion and He gave us 11 wonderful years together. Halie Jo, daddy and I love you, thank you for the love you gave us and for seeing us through.
Camp Run-A-Muk 