Lilly died Wednesday night at home in the loving arms of John and me.
Lilly is the kind of dog that not everyone loves. Heck most people found her annoying, loud, and just down right obnoxious. Her breath was atrocious. She growled at you if you looked at her the wrong way. She would lick your toes without asking first. But, she was my dog.
And I am all she had.
I will spare you the details of her death because that is not what I would like for anyone to remember of her. Instead I would like to share what she brought me in her 11 years.
Lilly was born January 2001. I adopted her in March of 2001. She was just a little bitty ball of fur when I adopted her. I had no business adopting an animal. I lived in an apartment with a friend who didn't even really want a dog. Our apartment was on the third floor. Do you know how impossible it is to house train a dog living on the 3rd floor and working full time? If I total up the amount of money I have spent on wee wee pad alone, I can tell you it is impossible! I digress. I adopted Lilly because I didn't have enough cash to go to grad school. My plan was to start grad school in June 2001. That would have given me an entire year off school with the hopes I would be able to save and pay for my graduate school 100% in full without a loan. When registration came I was short on cash. So to make myself feel better I went and bought a dog. I remember picking her out instantaneously. When I brought John and my roommate back to see her, I remember John saying, "Her? Are you sure?" Even though she was waaay to expensive (please adopt from a shelter - do not do what I did!) I signed some forms, agreed to pay for her over 3 months and took her to her new apartment.
That girl was stubborn. She hated being alone in the apartment all day, so she chewed the walls. She did not like being in a crate, so she peed in the crate and then rolled in it. She didn't like to walk on a leash for more than 15 minutes so she would lay down in the road and flip over on her back. When a new person arrived at the house, she would bark incessantly until they came over to say hi. I thought I had finally met my match. God surely didn't give me a stubborn dog to teach me a lesson, did He?
God certainly didn't bless us with easy animals. Lilly got crabbier in her old age. After Evan was born, she became snippy if she was handled wrong. She never bit me, but nipped at me. For that reason we liked to keep Evan and her separated until he was old enough to know how to treat animals. Evan liked Lilly. The weren't pals like you see in the dog food commercials or even what I see with some of my friend's kids and their dogs, but he did like her. He would sit on the floor near her, scoot very slowly over to her and softly pet her with both of his hands. And his eyes never left her. He was always concerned with how she felt about it. If she got up and moved, he never followed. He let her go. If she did stay and let him pet her he would look at me with a huge smile and say "Look mommy, she likes me!" or "She's so soft." He was more patient than I was at times with her. I could have (should have) learned a lesson for him.
Luke loved to watch her. He wasn't too interested in petting her, but he always knew where she was. He would intentionally get a cracker in his hand so Lilly would be guaranteed to follow him around in case he dropped it. As soon as that one was eaten, he would get more ammo just to have her attention.
She taught Evan to be gentle and patient. She taught me to be more tolerant. Even at her worst, she was making me a better person. Lilly, I hope your 11 years with me were good ones. I know I wasn't always the most patient dog owner, but you were mine. I always new you were meant for me. My prayer is you are able to rest in peace over that rainbow bridge.
Lilly P. Asbell
January 2001-May 2012
