No one ever wants to have to say goodbye to someone or something they love - especially not a pet.
When I was 11 years old midway through a softball tournament my sister and I somehow convinced my parents that TODAY was the day we wanted to get a dog. (We'd been planning/begging/scheming for this puppy for a very long time) and I'm pretty sure there was a bet involved. Something to the effect of - if you win the softball tournament you can get a puppy... AWESOME motivation! To say the least, we won and to the farm we went to pick out our Lhasa Apso from the litter! We were torn between an all white little boy pup or a rambunctious red headed girl pup...thankfully we picked the redhead and the next day on the way home from the tournament she would be ours!
I can still remember lying in the hotel room, my sister and myself in one bed, my parents in the other...crickets chirping outside the window and the hum of the air conditioner drowning them out only slightly, darkness surrounded our conversation but you could sense the excitement in the air. We were trying to figure out what to name our new puppy that we would be taking home with us the next day. Even my Dad who was the most hesitant about getting a dog (only because he knew he'd have to be responsible for yet another girl) was excited about settling on a name we
all liked. Many names were thrown out - many names were repeated over and over to test the fit, and finally we decided, "Annie Eby Fitzgerald" Eby for a middle name because it was my team that won the tournament that helped us win the dog!
She was a spitfire, and stubborn as all hell. Growing up we thought she was a little slow, but as she got older we realized she did a lot of things for attention, or just to get a rise out of whomever would pay attention. From running round the house in circles like a mad women after each bath, to barking at the drawer for her morning muffin wrapper, to sneezing and playing coy each time you'd blow air in her face, to snarfing down her "Thanksgiving Roll" after she climbed up on the table to steal it years previous, she was a character through and through.
At one point a few years back she spent 2 days with a paw tucked up under her belly refusing to walk. Concerned as we all were we would carry her to her food, carry her outside to go potty, and treated her to all the luxuries an injured dog would assume. After a few days we were sitting in the family room watching Annie in the kitchen as she stood perched on 3 legs one tucked up...slowly she turned her head side to side checking to see if the coast was clear, set her "injured" paw down on the ground and began to walk normally. IT WAS ALL A PLOY - and she milked us for all we were worth! The little bugger!
For all the memories which there are many many more, it all boils down to the fact that the dog we often gripped about and drug our feet each time she begged to go out to drink water in the rain or eat snow off the "path" shoveled deck in the frigid winter months, she was a wonderful friend to our family. She was the star of many family photos and had the spirit and fiery nature of an irish girl that we all came to love.
Even in her old age when she went blind and deaf, it was as if she just kept on going, nothing changed, still the same temperament...and maybe just a few more bumps into the wall along the way! :) Still hogging the best spot in bed, making you move so she could be comfortable and waking up at all hours of the night because she said so and you were on her schedule! :)
Even in her last days it was apparent she was a fighter and stubborn just like the rest of the Fitzgerald's. Which only means we raised her right and she knew she was loved so very much. Goodbye to a great friend who we shared 15 yrs of great memories with and the best dog a family could have ever picked that Memorial day weekend so many years ago!
Sleep Tight Annabelle Eby you were so loved and very much missed!
