This week my daughter Emily and her family will say goodbye to their 15-yearold Labrador, Abbey. With two children who have not known life without their dog, the loss will be especially hard.
It was the classic tale of college love, how Abbey came to be Emily’s. A boyfriend gifted the puppy to Emily while at Texas A&M. He did not make the cut, but Abbey stayed forever. She was, as most labs are, the sweet and obedient and faithful friend to Emily throughout her first four years of teaching as a single woman, during her courtship with the man who did stick around, and was the perfect pet to welcome home two babies in the span of three years. Abbey has been there for the hardest and most precious moments for Emily.
Here’s the deal with Abbey: she’s never been in the way and yet she has always been a fixture in the room. Sit down to read? She was at your feet. Go take a bath and close the door? She planted herself just outside. Put the newborns on the floor for tummy time, and Abbey mimicked. She never begged for food but waited patiently for the toddler crumbs to fall to the floor.
The golden lab slept with her family—sometimes all five of them in the big bed when the girls were really small—until she could no longer jump up in the bed or make the stairs. So, what did the family do? They moved downstairs so Abbey could enjoy her final year of sleeping bed-side on the floor.
She has lived in College Station, San Marcos, Gail and Midland, and spent her best years in Snyder. Walks on the streets around Towle Park were family affairs until Abbey could no longer do so.
Her mom and dad have been doing their homework on how to approach this week with Lillie and Ellie. A new puppy was added last summer, so the house will not be void of pet love after Abbey is gone. Abbey has merely tolerated Moo, a sheepadoodle who has endeared herself to everyone but Abbey. Though the recent addition is dearly loved, the Rollins family has an unwritten pact that instructs them to protect Abbey from the playfully bothersome puppy. Ellie refers to it as putting Moo in “time out” (a phrase Ellie herself knows well).
Seven-year-old Lillie wondered aloud this past week, in my presence, how old she thought she would be when I went to heaven. My aging—and Abbey’s— are on her mind. When the subject arises, we just make it a simple, natural conversation.
Because death is natural.
Unfortunately, sometimes the way in which those we love exit the earth is not natural, and that is the source of unimaginable grief.
Thankfully, Abbey will go naturally and peacefully, having lived her best life with her best family. She loved and was loved. The family will grieve. And then twenty years from now, two little girls all grown up and possibly with families of their own, will remember this golden Labrador, their beloved first family pet.
Here’s to Abbey and our other furry friends. Life is so much sweeter with their unconditional companionship.
Snyder, Texas, native Sue Jane Sullivan is a retired schoolteacher whose thought-provoking commentary appears occasionally in several West Texas newspapers, including The Texas Spur and The Caprock Courier.
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