Stanley: by Matt Bouma-Hannam
On March 15, I lost my dog. It was a happy day. The weather was nice. I was going to a family birthday party at my aunt's house and after, my friend's house. Nothing was wrong. Dinner was great, and the family was great. Saturday was going great.
Stanley is a dachshund who we classify as my "mom's dog." He never liked me because when I was a toddler I climbed all over him, and apparently scarred him for life because he growled at me until the day he died. He bit my face on several occasions, and this growling in his later years made him cough like a smoker. He was an old, graying, smelly, toothless, unfriendly, old dog. But I loved him. It's hard to explain why I would love a pet like this but he was cute and when he didn't know that it was me petting him, he was a good dog. It's hard to explain.
I was sitting on my girlfriend's couch at about 9:30 when I got a phone call from my sister. I'm not going to lie and say that I knew something was wrong right away, but my sister never calls me. I did know something was wrong when I heard her crying on the phone. Stanley was dead and they were at the animal hospital. At this point, a lot of things were running through my head. My mom must have been devastated. She loved that dog like a best friend, and he had been around for about fifteen years; since he was a puppy.
I took that old slug out every day after school for the past several years, so I could see his decline. It was sad, and I was dreading the day that he would go. My biggest fear was that it would be somehow my fault, that all of the years of me making him growl took a toll on his lungs or something. Just my conscience. But don't worry, that's not how it happened.
On the verge of tears, I told Emily. Her hug didn't make me feel better. I was shaky for about ten minutes until my neighbor, Sue Sue (Susan), told me that they were going to come to pick me up so I could go to the veterinarian and say goodbye to him. In the car on the way there, they told me that he was hit by a car. Horrifying. I was sweating and shaking under the assumption that he just peacefully dozed off because of old age, this only made it worse.
Walking into the hospital, my mom and my sister were surprisingly calm. But as soon as I hugged my mom we all cried. Hard.
He couldn't control his bladder. He couldn't jump up and down stairs or furniture. He couldn't chew his food. He couldn't growl with the same menacing sound as he used to. He couldn't even walk anymore. His hind legs were shot, and his teeth were practically non-existent. I would say that it was for the best for him to go at some point soon, but never like the way he did.
I walked down a short hallway to a small room with a table. He was there on that table. Lifeless. His clouded eyes were sunken in and cold. It was here when my mom told me that he was run over. I felt desperate when I found out. It is too hard to explain the emotion I felt, so I won't. Losing a member of the family is not easy. Something I do not look forward to in my future.
On the upside, I had the next two weeks off of school. At least...
My sister (Liv) and Stanley- 2004
Stanley is a dachshund who we classify as my "mom's dog." He never liked me because when I was a toddler I climbed all over him, and apparently scarred him for life because he growled at me until the day he died. He bit my face on several occasions, and this growling in his later years made him cough like a smoker. He was an old, graying, smelly, toothless, unfriendly, old dog. But I loved him. It's hard to explain why I would love a pet like this but he was cute and when he didn't know that it was me petting him, he was a good dog. It's hard to explain.
I was sitting on my girlfriend's couch at about 9:30 when I got a phone call from my sister. I'm not going to lie and say that I knew something was wrong right away, but my sister never calls me. I did know something was wrong when I heard her crying on the phone. Stanley was dead and they were at the animal hospital. At this point, a lot of things were running through my head. My mom must have been devastated. She loved that dog like a best friend, and he had been around for about fifteen years; since he was a puppy.
I took that old slug out every day after school for the past several years, so I could see his decline. It was sad, and I was dreading the day that he would go. My biggest fear was that it would be somehow my fault, that all of the years of me making him growl took a toll on his lungs or something. Just my conscience. But don't worry, that's not how it happened.
On the verge of tears, I told Emily. Her hug didn't make me feel better. I was shaky for about ten minutes until my neighbor, Sue Sue (Susan), told me that they were going to come to pick me up so I could go to the veterinarian and say goodbye to him. In the car on the way there, they told me that he was hit by a car. Horrifying. I was sweating and shaking under the assumption that he just peacefully dozed off because of old age, this only made it worse.
Walking into the hospital, my mom and my sister were surprisingly calm. But as soon as I hugged my mom we all cried. Hard.
He couldn't control his bladder. He couldn't jump up and down stairs or furniture. He couldn't chew his food. He couldn't growl with the same menacing sound as he used to. He couldn't even walk anymore. His hind legs were shot, and his teeth were practically non-existent. I would say that it was for the best for him to go at some point soon, but never like the way he did.
I walked down a short hallway to a small room with a table. He was there on that table. Lifeless. His clouded eyes were sunken in and cold. It was here when my mom told me that he was run over. I felt desperate when I found out. It is too hard to explain the emotion I felt, so I won't. Losing a member of the family is not easy. Something I do not look forward to in my future.
On the upside, I had the next two weeks off of school. At least...
My sister (Liv) and Stanley- 2004
Oh, Matt, I'm so sorry to hear this about your dog. It's never easy to lose a beloved pet, but I liked your description of your interesting relationship with him.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry Matt.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry for your loss.
ReplyDeleterip Stanley. I'm so sorry for your loss, Matt. Stanley is a good name too.
ReplyDelete