Slim Pickin's

No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does. ~Christopher Morley

I adopted this beautiful boy when he was two. He was found wandering the streets, malnourished and starving, and placed in a foster home. I'd stopped by to pick up some craft materials from his foster mom where over a dozen cats wandered around one very nervous dog. When I sat on the sofa he jumped up beside me and slowly leaned into my shoulder. I had not planned on getting a dog, but it was love at first lean.

When I brought him home, my husband, B, was sorting through a tape of bird songs in preparation for his ornithology trip to Africa. The bony dog ran over and put two paws on B's knee. B looked at him and said, "Hiya Slim," and it stuck.

Slim used to visit with us in our bed every night until we'd say, "Time for bed." Then he'd climb onto his own pillow on the floor beside us. When B and I divorced, I tried to manage Slim in the tiny studio apartment I found for J and me, but it just didn't work. Friends N &M offered to foster him for a month until I could find a permanent home for us, but it took six months and by that time they'd become very attached to Slim and I didn't have the heart to ask for him back.

 

They've been really good to Slim and he's lucky to have had two sets of loving parents. We've all been extremely lucky to have him. He's such a beautiful, silky, boy--part greyhound/part dalmation--and used to run like the wind. But at 11 years old he has advanced lymphoma in his lungs, is incontinent, and uncomfortable. Tomorrow he'll be euthanized.

When I showed up to say my final goodbyes Slim's cancer-ravaged body was still familiar beneath my hands as I massaged him. His breathing was labored, but he rested his head in my lap as if he'd never left it. Before I left I thanked him for being such a good dog, for understanding why I had to let him go, and for bringing me so much joy during the years he lived with us. When I returned home tonight, Bella and Moxie went crazy sniffing me. I gave them each an extra treat and lots of kisses.

I'm sad for N & M, who have loved Slim so very well, taking him on trips all over the country in their motor home, letting him sleep by their bed every night. I know they're doing the humane thing, the hard thing. I'm so very grateful for their loving care of this wonderful creature. I'm so glad to have had the honor of his company for three and a half years.

I'll miss you, Slim. Time for bed, Old Man. Sleep well, our silky, beautiful boy. 

Comments

[Zoe]

(((Ellie))) hugs for you & for N & M.

[Suzanne Bellerive]

Elle,

What a lovely send-off this dog is getting, after what sounds like a lovely life -- most of it, anyway.

I'm glad to see you making journal entries again. Missed you when you weren't writing much!

[Spyder]

I cried. I cried remembering how I felt having to say goodbye to our pyr, Bianca. She had bone cancer. She had been such a sweet girl. We brought her home and buried her under a redbud tree and hung her collar on one of the branches. When ever I walk by that tree I reach over & jingle her tags.