Margaret, Maggie, Marge: 1992-2006

Yesterday my mom called me at 11am to tell me she was worried about the dog. She said that the dog hadn't been breathing 'right' in the morning. By 9 that night she and I were hauling the 75lb body of our beloved "Mags" through the door of the Emergency Vet's office, located in an ugly strip mall in a nondescript suburb of St Paul Minnesota. As soon as they wheeled her away on the gurney I burst into tears.

My parents took my brother and I to pick out a puppy fourteen years ago, when we lived near Baltimore, Maryland. We picked out the fattest, reddest, laziest puppy out of a bunch of 10 little yellow balls of energy. Now, 14 years, and about 5,000 miles later, mom and I were alone again to say goodbye to our friend and a huge chunk of our past.

There was no question that it was her time 'to go,' as they said. She was extremely arthritic, somewhat senile, completely deaf, and had just lost her ability to swallow. She looked like a pathetic shadow of her former regal self, lying on the table where she was going to die. She was drooling and her eyes were sunk into her head. I nuzzled into her greasy fur and cried, mom stood by and did the same.

After a few minutes alone 'to say goodbye' the vet came in and administered the euthanasia. My heart lurched when, in the last moment of her life, Maggie lifted her head up and looked at the man who was shooting poison into her paw. Then she lay her head down, and that was it. She didn't feel dead, or look dead. But 15 seconds later the vet, with a stethoscope buried in her fur, confirmed that her heart had stopped beating.

Mom and I sobbed together and hugged under the fluorescent lights while the vet quietly slipped out of the room. After a while we gathered our things to go. We said "good girl Marge" one last time, and "goodbye." When we walked through the lobby the other concerned owners in the waiting room bowed there heads when they saw our puffy eyes. I guess they must have been glad that despite being at the vet ER late at night on a Thursday, at least they weren't 'those people' who had to kill their dog.

Anyway, Goodbye Marge. You were a cranky old lady, but that's why we loved you. I hope you had a good life. I know you'll always be a part of mine.....