A Perfect Day for a Send-Off
Possibly the world’s easiest job is to be a weather man in Southern California. They only have one job. But they seem to have trouble getting it right. Remember last year when months were spent preparing us for the pending El Nino. The El Niño that never happened. Then this last winter we were surprised by wave after wave of wind and rain.
The ruthless winter makes for a delightful contrast with recent weather, making blue, clear skies seem clearer and slight breezes, breezier. We are fortunate to be living in this part of the world.
Our family dog is a tan greyhound from Mexico where she grew up, trained and raced. Her racing name was Empire Builder. We shortened it to Emma. She was a champion until she broke her leg. The race track has an agreement with the Greyhound Pets of America to make ex racers available for adoption. We were happy all those years ago to have her join our family. Emma is an oddly happy dog. After all these years she still gets excited by bounding up and down at feeding time. Twice a day. The same food every time, but she is always delightfully surprised at the sound of the dog food emptying into her bowl. Emma has many admirers on her daily walks. There is a nice lady at top of world whose name I don’t even know who routinely would see Emma walking with Kathy and bring Emma dog treats. She has two dog friends she likes to run with on the Thurston Field, Norm and Walter. We enjoy dressing and taking pictures of her in hats and holiday costumes. She has never complained.
Shortly before Christmas, Emma cried out in pain while walking as she had apparently hurt her foot. Unimproved after weeks, we took her to the vet where they diagnosed her with bone cancer. Bone cancer we were told is an aggressive cancer with no remedy. How does one describe the feeling a family goes through when such news comes? My oldest son off at college was devasted at the news. Both boys were shattered. Emma was their dependable friend since they were little. Kathy and I knew Emma may not make it ‘til the end of the school year. We had to figure when to fly Mason home so as he wished, he could say his goodbyes. We sprang to action by spoiling Emma. We went and bought the fluffiest dog bed we could find. I constructed a giant dog stroller out of a freight dolly and an old kennel of Emma’s which we affectionately called the Potty Wagon. Emma was now having trouble with walks so the wagon made her little journeys easier.
Mason was home during spring break, a week of perfect weather. Saturday we took Mason to the airport to head back to school. The next day was another warm sunny Sunday. Emma went outside to lie in the warm sun on our front yard lawn, a place she never goes. She was smiling in the sun. (She could actually smile) We sat there with her as she was being silly and playful. We pat her warm, sun soaked tummy. A few hours later Emma was gone. Gone. She died peacefully in her fluffy bed.
Losing Emma has been tough on our family. I will especially miss her. I work from home and talk to her all day long, and occasionally take naps alongside her. Kathy misses Emma bounding to the door like the cartoon character Tigger at the arrival of mommy being home again. The boys have lost their childhood pal. Emma you will be missed.
It was a perfect day, that day; Emma smiling in the Laguna sun. It was the perfect day to die.
Roderick Reed owns REEDesign Interiors in Laguna Beach. http://roderickreed.com/.
