I am so worried right now. My beloved Sunny, the mixed-breed dog that showed up on my porch many years ago and became my shadow and my best friend, is not doing well. She is fifteen years old now, has failing hearing and some failing sight, and arthritis in her back legs. We’ve had her to the vet a number of times and we’re doing all we can to make her comfortable and to extend her days. Of course, like all creatures, the course of her days is in her Creator’s hands. I just know He loves this little furry servant He sent to us years ago when I was so lonely I didn’t know what to do.

She has been indescribable company to me while my lively home has grown quieter and quieter with each sparrow that has flown from the nest. Sunny, whose coal black fur is now salt and pepper gray, is getting very old and I’ll be honest with you. I can hardly stand the thought of not having her. (I can hardly see through my tears to write.) She is so attached to me right now that if I walk out the front door or even leave the room and she awakens from a nap and doesn’t see me, she hops up and cries, looking around frantically. Many years ago, some of the neighbor boys used to make fun of her because she’s such a mutt. They’d mock, “What kind of dog is she anyway?” And one of our kids would always answer, “A guard dog!” And that she is. She’s been what Keith and I always call our “trusty dog.” When I wake up, she’s right on the floor next to my side of the bed. When I come home in the afternoon, she’s waiting on the front porch. When I’m out of town, Keith has to pick her up and carry her in the house because she doesn’t want to go in until I’m home.

I know that so many people have far worse pain and far more debilitating troubles. I prayed for a number of them in my prayer time a little while ago. But the prospect of losing a pet that has been such a fixture in the family for so long is still painful in its own right. This morning I let her out in the front yard to roam a bit like she likes and, refreshingly, I watched her prance around almost youthfully. As is her usual routine, she then headed down toward the end of the street to visit her dog friends. A funny thought occurred to me as I watched her make a bee-line their direction. Sunny is probably going to say all these same things to her dog buddies about me.

Sunny and Beth in 1998

Sunny being her most patient self as baby Jackson plays with her fur

Tags: Dogs

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