July 1 1990 —- Aug. 9 2001
Beautiful Old Young Dog
My name is Lindsay Eckert.
I am 15 years old and I live in Wisconsin.
I received a beautiful Labrador retriever for my 4th birthday.
The second I got her I knew her name was Shelly.
She was the most beautiful thing on the planet!
We were best friends up until the day she was taken
away from me and she will always
remain in my heart.
Shelly and I have always been best friends.
We would roll in the grass and she would cut my legs up so
bad from wrestling that I would have up to 15 band aids on them!
We were the perfect match made in heaven.
In winter she would chase me as I was going down the
sledding hill ripping my gloves off my hands for no
particular reason at all. When the weather was bad we could be
found sitting inside together never apart.
But then things changed. Shelly got a cyst in her neck
and played the teeter-totter game with death for 2 weeks.
That was the scariest 2 weeks of my life.
About 2 years ago my dog got a lump in her side.
The lump grew to the size of a cucumber.
The doctors checked it out and said it was fine….
but we all knew it was cancer.
The summer of 2001 brought death into my life.
My 20 year old cat Obie died in may followed by my 3 rabbits.
I knew time with Shelly was running short because she was
11 years old and slightly obese with acute signs of arthritis
whenever she walked. I truly didn’t know it would come
so soon though.
One night we were all in the living room watching ER and Shelly
suddenly shot her head up and stared at me wide eyed..
and started convulsing. I leapt to the floor and sat with her
and by the time the seizure was over I was covered in
saliva and blood.
The seizures happened regularly every five hours from
that point on. We took my baby to the vet and that horrible person
who calls herself a life saver tells me she has 5 days to live.
I wanted to kill her.
How could time be over?? No that was completely irrational
of her to say.. but deep down I knew it was time.
The vet gave us pills that I had to force down Shellys throat
for a few days.
Her last day to live was set for August 9 at 2:45 p.m..
I forced Shelly to eat peanut butter mixed with pills for 3 days
until she couldn’t eat anymore.
On August 8 my mother and I went to the store.
When we returned blood covered the walls in every corner
and along every wall. Shelly got a severely broken nose from
ramming into walls cuz of lack of vision and stability.
I was quickly running out of time.
The next day Shelly seemed perfectly fine.
No seizures but we had already made the appointment.
In those last few hours we took 3 rolls of pictures cried
and cried some more.
When 2: 40 rolled around my mom wouldn’t let me go
to the vet with her. I believe that is what led me to be still
grieving everyday now.. even after half a year.
My last view of my baby my best friend my love and
my companion was through the tinted window of our astro van.
I sat down in the driveway and bawled until my mom returned
supposedly with my dog’s corpse.. but no such thing.
She had her cremated and I would never glimpse at her again.
I hated my mother for that and will never be the same.
I still cry even now. I regret letting my mom win our argument
over letting me join her.. to see her soul drift away.
I haven’t said good-bye properly and I have her ashes in my room.
I AM SORRY Shelly and I love you so dearly.
I have all of your possessions and I love you.
I love you.!
I love you.
Good-bye.
Lindsay
| Shelly |