September 2, 2004 was a terrible day for me. The day
before, I lost my job. We had just bought a new house, but had not yet moved.
Geoff was in Atlanta on business and Joshua and I were planning to leave the
following day to join him there for the Labor Day weekend. My dog, Doobie, had
been suffering with skin cancer for over a year. He was in pain, and I was in
pain watching him. When I woke up that Thursday morning, I decided that it
would be the day that I would finally put Doobie out of his misery. It was
something we had discussed with the vet for several months and since everything
already sucked, I figured it would be easier on me if I dealt with these two
major losses all at once. I called the vet and made an appointment and then I
called Geoff to tell him of my decision. He protested and said that he felt
like he needed to be there, but I thought it was best to do it on my own.
Although he had become our family dog, in reality Doobie was my boy. I adopted
him when I was a senior in high school. He went to college with me, traveled
across the country with me, went to law school with me, endured countless
boyfriends with me (he hated all of them). He escorted me into adulthood, from
being a high school kid to being a young professional. He lived in five states
and had been to a total of about 20. He went everywhere with me. It didn’t feel
right to have anyone else there when he took his final breath. I felt like it
would almost be like a slap in the face to have Geoff there. He only needed
(and only wanted) me. That morning I
took him on a long walk, fixed him a good meal and gave him lots of treats and
hugs. Then I took him to do what I hated to do but knew I had to.
We returned from Atlanta the following week. Our
apartment was different without him. There was definitely a huge void. But we
would soon be moving to our new home in Carrollton. I thought the change in
scenery would help. For the first several weeks after he died, we did a lot of
painting and other home improvements before we actually moved. We were busy,
which was a good way to keep all of our minds off of Doobie. We talked about
getting another dog, but we weren’t ready…or so we thought. On Sunday,
September 19th, we were painting Joshua’s room. Geoff was doing some
caulking around the house, but ran out of paper towels, so he went to WalMart
to buy some more. He called me from WalMart and said, “they have dogs for
adoption over here and one looks just like Doobie.” I asked if I needed to
drive over. Geoff said no, that we weren’t ready for another dog. Hesitantly, I
agreed. Geoff came home, but realized that he had forgotten the one thing he
needed to buy: paper towels. He suggested that I go back over there since I was
at a stopping place and then I could see that dog. So I did. Carroll County
Animal Support was outside of WalMart. I walked over and there she was. Her
name was Casey. She did look like Doobie, just more feminine. A little boy
walked up, pointed to her and said, “what an ugly dog! Who would ever want that
dog?” I asked the woman what the adoption fee was. Money was tight and we
couldn’t really afford a $150 fee, which is what no kill shelters usually
charge. “$35.00,” replied the woman. “I’ll take her,” I said. I filled out the
application, wrote a check, went inside to buy the paper towels (as well as
some new doggy supplies), came back out to claim her, and drove her home.
You have never seen a more excited 5 year old. Joshua was
over the moon! I decided to name her Azul (Spanish for Blue – her color), and
she knew her name before the day was over because Joshua said it so many times.
He could not get enough of her! She filled the void that Doobie's death had created. Plus, I finally had another girl in the house! I had been far outnumbered before. She was my baby girl. As the new center of our universe, she was our
family's princess. And she knew it. Like Doobie, she went everywhere with us. She slept
in our bed. We lived “out in the county,” so she was able to roam our small
subdivision and the surrounding woods (what we called her kingdom). And when
she was inside, she would look out a window or the storm door to observe
everything going on in her kingdom. 
Azul enjoyed her “princess” status for
several years. In March 2007, we adopted Brandeis. She did not like him at all
and really didn’t like sharing the spotlight. It took over 4 years, but she
finally loves him and will now play with him. Then we left her rural Kentucky
kingdom for suburban Chicago. No more roaming. Then Kathleen came along...and
then Leighton. That was the big blow. People always told us that when you have
kids, your dogs become second-class citizens. I thought that would never be the
case at our house, but I was wrong. Don’t get me wrong, we love our dogs, but
they don’t get nearly the amount of attention that they used to enjoy. Azul is
not crazy about the girls. I don’t know if that’s because they have stolen the
spotlight or because they annoy her. She walks away when they try to pet her.
Brandeis, on the other hand, lets them pull his tail and tug on his ears. I
noticed that we don’t call Azul “Princess” quite as often now that we have two
others. But we still love her dearly, and all three kids adore her (and she
does still out-rank Brandeis – yes, it’s ok to love one dog more than the
other). And I know that as Kathleen and Leighton get older and become better
playmates, Azul will grow to love them the way that Brandeis does.
HAPPY 7TH ANNIVERSARY, AZUL!!!!
WE LOVE YOU!!!!
