I Love Lucy

This morning, I took my video camera and taped Ricky and Lucy together for the last time. Ricky is usually calm and friendly, but she kept barking at me. As I tried to get closer, she would just bark. I think she knew what was going on.

Lucy's food had to be mashed and put in water so she could suck it in from the sides of her mouth.

I think the picture above is one of the saddest I've ever seen of her. Dogs don't usually get food all over their snouts, but it's the only way Lucy could eat.

One of the saddest parts of putting Lucy to sleep was trying to get her into the van that was going to take her to die. Above is a picture of my 15-year-old brother Benjamin saying goodbye to her for the last time. (When Benjamin found out that Lucy had to be put down, my mom said that he took a shower and she could hear him crying. Also, Benjamin kept saying to Lucy, "Why Lucy? Why did you have to get sick?")

We were running late so I told Mother to call the vet and let them know we were still going to be there. She dialed the number and when they picked up, my mother started crying and couldn't speak. She handed the phone to my father and he finished the conversation.

My mother wanted to take some pictures with Lucy and she kept crying as we tried to take them.

This is the last picture of Lucy taken when she was alive. She was very happy and I think she knew what was going on. She was very calm when the vet came in and administered the drug that stopped her heart. The vet said that she might release urine and feces and I was really afraid that she would since I was sitting right next to her.

Thankfully, she died peacefully and rested her head in my lap. Not only was it was peaceful and beautiful, it was really interesting to feel Lucy's spirit leave her body. Mom kept trying to keep Lucy's eyes closed saying, "My mother always said close someone's eyes before they die."

The last time I cried with both of my parents is when I told them I was gay. We were all crying and petting Lucy, saying goodbye in our own ways. After about 5 minutes since Lucy passed, my Dad left the room. I told my mom that we needed to leave because we would be there all day if we didn't. I lifted Lucy's head off my lap--it was heavy. I gently set it on the ground and said goodbye.

When we got back home, Ricky wagged her tail like she was expecting Lucy. When she didn't arrive with us, Ricky sat on the driveway and stayed there for a couple of hours. It was sad to see her waiting for her sister that would never come back.