Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Willie

Everyone who owns a dog feels that theirs is by far the most beautiful and smartest creature ever created. In my case, it was true. His name was Willie and I adopted him from a shelter in Pennsylvania in 1998, one day before he was going to be euthanized. (The shelter had thirty cages, and if the dog in the first cage wasn't adopted, he would be put down and the next dog in line would take his place.) When I first saw Willie he was in the first cage slowly wagging his tail as he saw me approach. It was love at first sight and it stayed that way until yesterday when, after suffering from lymphoma for a number of months, Willie in the safety of his home, surrounded by those who loved him, was put to sleep by a kindly visiting veterinarian. Tomorrow he will be cremated and his ashes will be brought back to the city that he loved and that loved him. It is astonishing the amount of joy a small animal can give you and the amount of pain you feel when he is taken away. He was one of a kind, the beautiful part Golden, part Spaniel, part Australian Sheep Dog, part Collie who was all love. I will miss him until we are together again.

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