All throughout life, we learn lessons. Some are taught from books, but most of them seem to come from mistakes made, which in some cases makes the mistake worthwhile, as long as one did learn the lesson. Then there are those of us who seemed to not grasp it and made the same mistake over and over again (at least a few more times). One mistake I made within the last few months was not continuing to write.
In May, I had received bad news regarding my Pomeranian mix, Bella. She was diagnosed with an extreme case of IVDD (spinal disease). The most we could do for a while was treat her with meds to keep her comfortable. Before we go any further ~ let me describe Bella for you. Physically, she had the coloring and shape of a miniature German Shepherd. She didn’t have the usual Pomeranian tail. In reality, she barely had one at all, just a cute, little stub. Possibly because of this, when she was happy, she would wag the whole bottom half of her body while tap dancing on the floor. She was always “smiling,” friendly to other humans and dogs, and stole the heart of everyone who met her. Aside from that, she was my best friend. She kissed the tears from my eyes, cuddled next to me and felt the need to be my protector.
As the head of the pack, she took care of everyone.
Now you can imagine my Bella girl. On with the story…
For a couple of months, Bella seemed to be doing fine and needed only minimal medication. Here’s where God’s plan and His hand once again took control of my life. Through Facebook, I had started a prayer chain for a wonderful boy, Odin. I was blessed to meet Debbi Willis, breeder of working German Shepherds, Stone Creek Shepherds. We started talking due to Bella but had met because of Odin. Shortly down the road, Peter got a beautiful, black German Shepherd, Diamond. Within two weeks, God had dealt the hand and Debbi brought one of her service dogs, Zeus, to me for a new home. What a beautiful, big boy he is! Zeus and Bella hit it off from the very first day and became buddies. Within another week, we realized Bella had given Zeus approval for taking care of me ~ changing of the guards. For the next two weeks, those two were practically joined at the hip. I felt my world was complete. Diamond was once again in the house with Peter and I had Zeus and Bella. My friends, hold onto those special moments….
A few days later, the Chihuahuas also joined the pack inside and everyone was feeling their place out. Wednesday night, I brought Bella out on the porch because she didn’t care to join everyone; instead, she lay on her favorite couch. I was feeling emotional about the reality that one day I would have to put her down. She started licking my tears and gave me more love that night than ever before. I was thanking God for my blessings and my Bella girl. As I spoke with Debbi, I told her it would be easier for me if something happened to her than to hope I know when the right time is. God heard me.
Thursday morning, Peter woke me up telling me we had to take Bella and put her down. Without going into the details, I can tell you God did hear my words; something happened and I took her to the vet. She remained stoic and leaned on me. As she was crossing over the Rainbow Bridge, I was there telling her it was ok ~ she could go ~ Zeus will take care of me ~ I love you ~ it’s ok…
We took her home and the dogs watched intensely from the porch as Peter buried her. For two days we have all mourned, especially me and Zeus. I looked at Peter that night and told him, “Babe, we need to learn from this. We’re always so busy taking care of things that we keep putting ‘us’ off. It could’ve been one of us.”
The more I thought about Bella, the more I realized that she taught me some very important life lessons:
- Always smile through the pain.
- No matter how silly it looks, always have a smile and a little dance when your man comes home.
- Kiss away the tears of your loved ones.
- Always be friendly and protective of all.
- Live in the moment. Love in the moment. Let your life make a difference.
This is DeVaughn ~ bringing it home.
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