Lucy
Let me tell you about my best friend.
Lucy “LuLu” Short. Lu Dog. French Fry. L Dog. Luce. Queen. Baby Girl. My Sweet Girl.
On June 2nd, 2012, I went to an adoption fair to meet another dog. A hound dog named Lucy. I went with my friend Jamie to meet her to see how she’d do with our family. She was a wonderful dog and we spent some time with her. Very adoptable. Living cozily with a foster family.
We decided to walk around a bit more and visit some of the other dogs.
That’s when we met her.
She looked a bit sad, not really engaged and something about her drew us in.
I spent some time with her. She kind of seemed disinterested - which was one of her greatest qualities… more on that later.
She wasn’t eager to meet me. But sweet as can be. I took her over to some other dogs and she perked up for a moment and hopped around with them - tangling up the leashes.
My mind was confused as to which dog was right, but my heart completely knew.
Bray and Jay came to meet her and we made the decision on doggie #2. She was a street dog and not overly “adoptable”... we were already connected to her. When it came to naming her, it was easy - we’d adopt the other dog’s name and call her Lucy.
Eight months old they think she was - which would track back to being born October 2, 2011… something I calculated last night as I couldn’t sleep. (Of course that’s likely not her actual birthday, but that’s what I’m choosing to believe). Oct 2nd puts her as a Scorpio and makes ALL the sense. LOL
So, where do you start when you’re telling someone about your BEST friend?
I suppose with the opening line of… Lucy was truly the most amazing dog.
Over the last few days, I’ve really tried to put words and explanations to how and why we feel so deeply for our furry soulmates.
I blurted out a few theories…
Because she was the epitome of unconditional love. On a whole other level-type of love. She loved us every single minute of every single day she was with us. Without condition.
Loyalty. That word doesn’t even do justice. More like a devotion. Something I don’t think humans are quite capable of. At least not at that level. We were her people and the bond was unbreakable. And she made sure to let us know it.
Yes, all of these things are true, but mostly what I settled with is:
Dogs are on a different level than humans. Humans are humans and have a ton of flaws and imperfections which is beautiful in its own sense. Humans hurt others at times. But DOGS… but my LUCY… her character was flawless. She never once did anything ever to hurt us. Ever. It was impossible for her to even think of such a thing.
I think that’s why she felt so special. It was the deepest, purest connection that I’ve ever experienced. And boy oh boy did I love that little lady fiercely.
The weirdest part of her passing for me has been realizing I guess I never really thought she wouldn’t be around. She’s always been around.
She was my shadow. Wherever I’d wander in the house - within a few minutes, LuLu would wander right behind. She always wanted to be right by us, but never a snuggler… until the last few years of her life.
Lucy was our lemon. From the beginning, she had so many health issues we worked hard to overcome. But she always fought. She always wanted to be part of the pack. We overcame so many of the health hurdles with her. It was part of our life where we would always be trying to figure out if something else was wrong with her.
Now don’t get me wrong - it sounds like I’m painting this picture of a weak, sick dog. That was never her. In fact, not until the last bit did she show signs.
She LOVED a frisbee. And was freaking good at it too. One of our most favorite pastimes was walking up to the elementary school and tossing the frisbee for her. Jay would toss it FAR and that son of a gun would catch it nearly every time. The times she didn’t catch it… was thanks to me and my absolutely terrible aim. But it gave us all a laugh every time.
We enjoyed so many walks. Where we’d always let her off the leash to explore the smells. The stinkier the smell, the more she loved it.
One of my favorite things to do was spoil her with human food treats. That girl loved her food. She was the first dog I saw that ate vegetables. Some of her favorite foods were: beef jerky, salmon, and mint chocolate chip Talenti (relax, we only gave her teeny bits without the chocolate). But who am I kidding, she loved all food.
I’m sad we weren’t able to give her the feast of her dreams we always talked about the day she crossed over.
Lucy was a protector in all of the ways. One night when we were camping, we had a scare with an animal by our tent. Lucy was ready to go. Thankfully it ended up being another dog, but I know she would have done anything she felt necessary to keep us safe.
She barked incessantly at anyone who dared set foot in our door with us all yelling at her in the background, “Lucy - it’s okay it’s just Grandpa!”
Whenever we would hike and stop for a picnic, Lucy would automatically assume that was her territory and would be sure to let anyone else walking by know that we were trying to picnic in peace and to keep along.
I’ll never forget one time in our first house coming down the stairs to find Lucy ON THE TABLE. Like not just front paws on the table… her entire body standing ON THE TABLE. The look she had on her face when she saw us was one I’ll never forget.
She loved her Brayden. He was five when we got her. Those two. A different kind of love. They have so many similarities. Fiercely loyal and loving, but you have to look beneath the layer to see it. We laughed together last night watching videos of the two of them playing soccer at our second house. She was the best defender we’d ever seen and she loved it more than anything to stop the ball.
Actually, she was a bit of a fun police now that I think about it. One of our favorite games was to pretend to “get” another person. Someone would fake yelling out, “he’s hurting me” and Lucy wouldn’t have any of it. She would bark and bark and bark and stop it immediately. Jay liked to get her going.
One of my favorite games with her was to roll up a kitchen towel to whip Jay in the butt. The second she saw me start to roll it up, she’d rip it out of my hands. No violence would be happening on her watch.
A particular piece that I will painfully miss the most is her always being beside me. I like to think that thanks to Covid, I was able to spend so, so many more moments with her. And that was all she really wanted. To be beside her people. She was happiest when the family was all together and she was laying right beside us all. I already feel like she’s still beside me.
But not being able to look over and actually see her, is the part that hurts my heart the most.
There are so many moments and memories I want to recall, but how do you compile your best friend’s LIFE in words? You simply can’t.
Even so, I do want you to know how loving she was to her other furry besties. Her very first best friend was my sister’s dog, Braxton. He came shortly after Lucy and we called them Chicken Nugget and French Fry. They LOVED each other. Both would get so excited going to each others house. My sister said Braxton knew the moment she passed over and that just hit me to the core. Ooof.
Next up, was our cat Layla. When we went to adopt Layla, the vets warned us that she couldn’t live with another dog because the previous owners said she attacked dogs. We decided to give it a try anyway.
Lucy and Layla became the best of friends. Surprising many that were able to witness it. While Lucy was never really one to initiate snuggling, she definitely accepted it. Layla would love to cuddle up with her on the chair regularly. One of the hardest moments for us all was the day Layla never returned. Lucy definitely knew and remembered Layla’s name until the end of hers. It makes us happy knowing they are together once again.
Five years ago we considered getting another dog. Lucy was eight. She had seemed to have lost a bit of her light at that time, so we weren’t certain how she’d do when we took her to meet Ginger. Honestly, we were a bit nervous.
Lucy took to her instantly.
Bringing Ginger into her life was maybe the best decision we ever made. She came alive. They played, wrestled, tug, swam, hiked, snuggled, and created their older/younger sister bond together. We’d often say that Ginger gave Lucy the happiest part of her life. It was so great to see them together. They loved to chase in our backyard. Ginger would speed by like a bullet train and Lucy would bark at her and give a little chase as she sped by.
When we took them to the dog park, Ginger would be the social butterfly running around, but Lucy never more than a few feet behind.
As Lucy got older, I remember a time at the park another dog bothered Lucy a bit and our sweet innocent Ginger turned into her protector - shutting that shit down faster than it started.
It was beautiful and sad to witness Lucy pass on the alpha role to Ginger.
When it came to treats - I’d always give Lucy’s first as Ginger patiently waited.
Lucy is the Queen and Ginger our Princess.
They couldn’t have been more opposite in demeanor and personality, but boy did Lucy love her sister.
Lucy loved her people. Ginger, Brayden, Jay, Me, the Grandpas who’d watch them when we were gone, Braxton, Layla. My sister and Nick. Els had a special bond with her too. Louie. Cobee and my mom. Gary. She truly loved when my nieces came into this world - Finley and Hadley. And they loved her too. And I’m sure I’m forgetting many, sorry Lu for the ones I left off.
And a special shout out to the chipmunks, squirrels, bunnies and mousies she loved to chase, but never touch.
Her passing was peaceful. We each had our time to say goodbye. She never was one for affection, but when I was saying goodbye - she lifted her nose to my face and we just sat there for a moment. She was ready, but we were not. But then again, we would have never been.
To my Baby Girl - thank you for gifting us the experience of you. You are loved beyond any of these words. I truly can’t wait to meet again. I love you.
