Lucy - Our Firstborn

As many of you know, we lost our dog of 11 years earlier this week. I am not one to get all crazy about pets, but I did think that Lucy deserved more than just a facebook post and so I thought I would write a little tribute here to help me remember some of the more memorable moments. We adopted Lucy in July of 2000 from the Memphis animal shelter. Ben picked her out. Our intent was to save the several hundred dollars that we would have spent on an English bulldog and rescue a dog in need. Little did we know that Lucy was sick and scheduled to be put down the next day. We quickly discovered this after we brought her home, took her to the vet and she was diagnosed with distemper. About half the dogs with this don't make it, but we were already emotionally attached to her so we spent the money ($1000 total) to nurse her back to health. Maybe her name should have been Lucky instead. So from that day on, she was living on borrowed time. I think we did the right thing. She was the best dog we have ever known. Very well behaved, not yappy, house trained, obedient, SMART, good climber (the day she scaled 2 stacked baby gates was the day we knew we couldn't keep her locked in the bathroom) and loving. We taught her to sit, stay, turn around, crawl, roll over, speak and sing (she loved who let the dogs out). She hated baths and always went nuts running around and rubbing her hears on the carpet when they were over. I will never forget the time she was sleeping on top of the covers and I flung her off the bed in the middle of the night when I pulled the covers up closer. Probably scared the mess out of her. She got me back though. One morning I got out of bed and stepped right in a pile of dog doo. Not the best wake up call.... I will also never forget the time she paid my brother back for all the markings left in our new house by Harry. She never pottied in the house except the one time he kept her in his. I told you she was smart! She loved to be with her people and took change well. She adapted with the addition of each child, another psycho dog that briefly graced our house and most recently Cali-co. Those 2 animals loved each other and it really made the last few months of Lucy's life more enjoyable. I have never seen a dog and cat chase each other and tussle like they did.

I am constantly reminded of her absence when she isn't following me into every room just to be there, chasing and biting the vacuum and scrounging for table scraps that may happen to fall during meals. She loved to bite fish when we caught some and to chase and bite waves. She was a constant companion to the children and helped a few of them make it through the scared of the dark phases in life. We will always remember her fondly. We love you Lucy. Thanks for choosing us.