Life Lessons from the Furry Family Members

I haven't posted in a bit ... apologies. General life, or shall we say, insane schizophrenic life unfortunately took over for a few months. Work (aka legalized version of prostitution for mortgage payments), offspring activities, acting/choreography gigs (not a bad thing) all seemed to hit at once. What this particular posting is focusing on, however, is the death of a family member this past week. Our dog, Giselle. We found Giselle at the pound almost 12 years ago. We named her Giselle because she more Loped than Ran ... much like a deer or a ballet dancer doing a grande jete.

My daughter was about 5 ... we were living in a 2 bedroom flat (750 sq. feet) after moving out of my parents' place post-divorce from her father. My parents' dog, Duke, she had somewhat adopted and he was slowly dying from cancer. I wanted to ease the transition, so I thought a small dog would do the trick. We go to the pound, there's a codgy / german shepard /golden retriever /chow mix that she becomes attached to in the kennels (not as small as I had hoped!) ... pound is closing .. dog is whimpering ... child is teary ... we have a dog!

She was already completely house trained when we brought her home (bonus!!), and a truly amazing animal. I remember walking her late one night when I arrived home after work ... there had been reports in the complex of a rapist. We got about 1/2 a block from our flat & she planted herself and began growling and "herding" me in the opposite direction. There was no way I could convince her to walk that way, past that next building, no matter what. Found out the next morning that a woman had been abducted going into that same building by the rapist hiding in the bushes in front. She made such a ruckus the neighbors came out & she got away, but, I believe to this day that Giselle sensed that danger and saved me from it. The attack had happened only 20 minutes after we arrived home from our walk that night.

She loved chasing squirrels & chipmunks & rabbits ... any small wild animal that dared cross her path. Bark, run, bark, run, attempt to climb the tree, bark more. Her M.O. She would be best friends for life with anyone who petted her, and I often believed that she would probably lead a burglar to the silver if he/she scratched her belly .. unless they decided to rob the place with a vacuum or a thunderstorm ... she would run and hide under the bed from anything in those paths!

Always loving, furry and cuddly .. a best friend of mine said it most poignantly, "that's what sucks about dogs .. you outlive them". Our best friend, our playmate, our family member. Pets, and in my world, dogs in particular, are part of our family. Losing them is like losing a member of the family.

Her ashes are being returned to us, and the kids and I will be scattering them at a nearby park with many squirrels, chipmunks & ducks for her to bark & chase until eternity. Our surviving dog simply walks past her water/food bowl (that I haven't been able to bring myself to remove yet) .. he won't touch them. Guess death in the family is difficult for everyone involved .. including the four legged family members.

Ashes to ashes .. dust to dust.

~ The Girl In The Little Black Dress