Our Furry Firstborn

Three weeks ago today, we said goodbye to our furry, four-legged first born. Molly was a sweet dog that we enjoyed having for 12 years. I'm using "we" mainly referring to my mother and I :) Aaron is a good sport about pets... I've said it before,let's just leave it at that :) Now, you should know that I was a lucky little girl to even have this dog in the first place. In October 1998, again, we, my mother and I :) sobbed and sobbed over the unexpected death of our dauschund, Lucy. My dad had always said "there will NEVER be another dog in this house!" After staying home from school for three days because I was just an emotional mess, mind you I was in 10th grade at the time and didn't just know how to pick my grieving self up off the floor and move on... whose sweet daddy came to her rescue and after ALL those years of "no more inside dogs..." was now taking her to Petal as soon as he got off work to "just look at" a Yorkie :) MINE!!! And in just a couple of weeks after that, again, whose sweet daddy was taking her back to Petal to pick up this little puppy because it was now old enough to leave its mother?... MINE :)

 I will say this sweet dog didn't live the healthiest little life, but I tried to make it the best I could for her. And seeings how I have a GREAT husband who assumed all vet responsibilities for her once we were married :) and, because he loves me SO much, did just about anything I requested that she "needed."   When she was 5 years old, for my 22nd birthday, and yes, Aaron was now the financial provider because we were married shortly before my 21st birthday, Molly was tested for allergies, only to find out that she was practically allergic to EVERYTHING under the sun... she then began getting allergy injections twice a month for the rest of her life. $$$  I remember finding out from the allergy test that she was allergic to duck???   I promise you, she lived a luxurious life, however, I'm not going to feed my dogs duck...  Glad to know she was allergic to it :)   And for the record, Molly's allergy testing/shots for my 22nd birthday is still, by far, the most expensive birthday present Aaron has ever given me, ha!  She often wore a onesie because even with her two allergy shots a month, she sometimes still had troubles with itching.  Did I mention she was allergic to grass?  And how is one supposed to go about avoiding grass???

When Molly was 6 years old, I decided I might better get a "companion" for her just in case something happened to her...  I knew from losing Lucy that I didn't need to be "petless."  If Molly could have talked, I'm pretty sure she would have asked me what in the world was I thinking by getting Lily???  I'm sure Lily had good intentions when trying to make friends with Molly in the beginning, but Molly was just a little too set in her ways by then to welcome an energetic little puppy to her turf! 

Her most favorite spot was on the back of the couch or chair, or laying over a vent when the heater was on.  I still haven't quite got use to her not always being on the back of our couch :(  and I sure do miss how excited she always was to see me when I let her out in the mornings, or when I returned home from being gone.

Along with allergies, she also took medicine for about the past 4 years for a heart murmur, and then the last 6 months for a collapsed trachea.  Would you say this dog was loved :)  Like I said, I gave her the best life I could :)  Exactly one week before she died, God gave me a little forewarning that I didn't have too many more days with her.  She had this breathing spell where she was extremely short of breath and became very limp.  Of course, I began to cry then because I thought something was happening to her, and I just wasn't quite ready to let go of her.  My parents came over for dinner that night, wait let me rephrase that, my parents BROUGHT dinner over that night :)  and I considered sending Molly home with them because I just didn't know if I could watch her die.  Before they went home, she made a turn-around and was a little back to her normal self.  That following week, she stayed pretty short of breath and one week later had another bad breathing spell that she just couldn't quite shake :(   Of course, this would all happen while I was home alone.  I held her one last time, and then knew she would probably be more comfortable if I set her down. It was a sad time for sure, but I was a "big girl" and did it.  Kenadie, being the precious angel that she is :) kept "politely" saying "Mommy, Molly is frozen", with much emphasis on "frozen."  Yes Kenadie, thank you for the reminder...  Aaron was soon to get off work, but not soon enough :(  I called my sweet dad and he was on his way.  Aaron arrived home just a little before my dad and sweet little Molly drew her last little breath. 
You may be wondering why I had my dad on his way...  Truth be told, the same man who said we would never have an inside dog, who then shortly after went back on his word and got his only daughter the new dog that she wanted, is the same man who I really needed in this situation:)  Even at 28 years old, he just makes everything better :)    He sweetly took Molly along with all of her "belongings" to be buried in his pasture along with Lucy, Patches and Luke, all former "Hall" pets :)  I have one wonderful dad!

While I'm still missing Molly, I have decided that maybe we will just have one dog for now.  Lily still seems a little lost without her though.  On a slightly positive note, we now know who the culprit of the daily accidents at the backdoor was!  And without naming any names... there have been NO accidents in the last 3 weeks.