For the next several weeks, here on my home page, I am placing my tribute to a furry, or, in this case,to a hairy little four legged member of our family, who was with us for sixteen years. As is the norm for these special friends, and if one is lucky, they'll stay around without any serious injury, and leave us because of illness, or just old age. Such was the case with Owllie, our cherished little Yorkie. We had to let her go on April 17. It was difficult watching her in these last couple of years slow down because of age, illness, a broken hind leg. And then, the knowledge that puppies of this age suffer ailments one doesn't even imagine, such as losing teeth and breaking their jaw. Who would have believed that would happen.
Sixteen years ago, my late father-in-law called to announce he had baby Yorkie pups available, with my wife telling him she wanted the runt of the litter for our young daughter. Well, that runt turned out to be a "heavy Yorkie", growing to be physically larger than her mother. Owllie went with us wherever we traveled. Wherever we went, she went. As she became older, it was amusing to watch her become very protective with her two favorite humans, my wife and daughter. Any type of aggressiveness toward these two people would bring a growl and a "terrifying" display of teeth. It was very funny to watch
her go "crazy Yorkie", as we would call it, right after she was bathed, running like a scalded-ass ape from one side of the house to the other.
I could go on and on with the countless memories my family has of Owllie, like her learning what that Christmas tree meant, associating a nice treat from her own stocking; her learning when the time came to eat in the morning and the evening; jumping up on the
window sill in the front room waiting for my wife to come home from work in the morning, barking with joy as she watched her car turn into the driveway. But, now that she's gone, besides those memories of her that we have, around the house remains her little bowl she ate from, some of her toys with which she played when she was younger, her leash for when she went on her walks, and tons of pictures. We're still having a bit of a problem removing most of these items from sight. In time, I guess we will put them away. It's all that remains of her that proved she existed in our lives. That's all that remains, that...and the joy in our hearts when she was with us, and the emptiness in our hearts left with the realization and acceptance that Owllie is gone...forever.
