A Death - Rebecca Link

Gary my husband had returned to Atlanta for business while my daughters, the dogs, and I stayed in Naples, Florida. It was a handful without Gary because the backyard wasn’t fenced in and the dogs would have to take their potty breaks on a leash. We had two dogs, Josie a black lab that we had rescued, and Samantha a dark red golden retriever. My daughters were only four years old at the time. Behind our house was a retention pond that was home for a nine-foot alligator. We called animal control about it and they said they knew about the alligator but it was only nine feet long and they don’t remove the alligators until they are ten feet long. I guess that extra foot makes all the difference.

Samantha had not been feeling well. She was only ten years old and up till now had been very healthy. She started heaving and throwing up bile in the corners of our living room. Her food would be left untouched in her ceramic doggie dish with bones painted on the side. She would lay on the cool white tiles in the living room and pant. I called the vet and he told me to take her water up and not to feed her for twenty-four hours. Around 2:00 in the morning she came beside my bed. Her legs were shaking and she was having trouble standing. I turned on a brighter light to see her more clearly. I took my pastel printed quilt from my bed and put it and my lavender pillow on the carpet beside her. I laid awake the rest of the night gently petting her back and softly singing to her.

I got the girls up early in the morning. I made them breakfast and got them dressed for preschool. I told them we had to take Samantha to the doctor first. They wanted to know what was wrong. I started to cry. From the time Samantha was one year old if I started to cry she would come running, bark and start licking me until I would stop. She tried to come from my bedroom into the kitchen where we were standing. Her feet separated as if she were doing the splits as she collapsed. I carried her and carefully laid her into the back of the car on top of three soft blankets.

I carried her into the vet’s office with both my daughters starting to cry as they followed me. I would continually reassure them she would be all right, but in my heart I knew it wasn’t so. I felt something was very wrong. I left her on the floor in one of the examining rooms while I dropped the girls off at preschool. When I returned to the doctor’s office Samantha was panting heavily and laying on her side in the same room that I had left her.

The doctor said I could stay while they ran tests on her. I sat beside her on the floor and petted her telling her how much I loved her. They told me to let her rest and they would call me with the results. The nurse hugged me and said they would take great care of her.
I couldn’t bear to leave her. It pulled at my heart to walk away.

I cried all day. My thoughts went back when I found her so small and afraid at the pet store in Dallas. She was Gary’s birthday present. She was with me through everything. All of my miscarriages she slept beside me and gave me such love. I told her everything and she would stare into my eyes as if she understood. When we brought the girls home from Russia she greeted them and licked them. They were her babies too. She was my friend and my life was better because of her.

Gary flew home that night. I was so happy to have him home. The nurse called the next morning and said Samantha had gotten up and walked outside on her own to potty. It gave me hope. The doctor called a half an hour later and said she wasn’t doing well and that it was her heart. The third call I answered and when the doctor paused I started crying