my dear sweet dog.

it's was a hot summer day eight years ago,
a black labrador dog was sitting outside of my dad's workshop.
she didn't have a collar or tags.
but she did have a terrible wound in her stomach.
she was weak and looked scared.
we called the cops to see if anyone had lost a dog that matched her description.
nobody did.
"she's hurt badly, i think you should just put her down"
we of course didn't have the heart to.
we kept her.
what a blessing she was.
she loved to run in the snow, play fetch and shag balls at discovery.
she would bark every time the door bell rang.
she whined whenever she saw my dad's truck come home.
she was extremely scared of thunder.

she was the best dog anyone could ever ask for.

she started to get weaker as years past by.
it was harder and harder for her to get up the stairs and even to stand.

may 22, the day she couldn't get up.
she was outside in the grass and everytime she tried to get up, she fell. but she kept trying.
it got more difficult through the night.

may 23, i woke up to my mom in tears
"come say goodbye to her, we don't think she's going to make it much longer"
she couldn't lift up her head and she was breathing heavily.
she was having constant seizures
all i could think was
"what happened? she was perfectly fine yesterday."

did you know there's not a single animal hospital open on sunday in utah valley?
now you do.
i couldn't leave her side.
even though i know she couldn't hear me i kept telling her how good of a dog she was, and everything was okay.
when she started to have another seizure i petted her head and tried to make her feel better until this one.
i felt her last breath

i gave her my blanket i made.
she deserved it.
we're planting beautiful flowers around her grave in between the two trees.
purple,
the color of her collar.

i love you oreo,
you were the best dog ever.