Sadie's Story

ORIGINAL EMAIL SENT ON OR NEAR
Sun, Jul 4, 2010 at 1:53 AM

Friendis!!
I have so much to tell you, hopefully we can talk soon.
I'd rather talk then type, blah! Lol.
Anyway, here something to read when you get home.
I found this website through PP (Pink Posse), & decided to share how I
was finding my joy.

Enjoy!

Dear Kim:

This is very long, so please bear with me.

Finding My Joy Through Grief

On January 23rd 2009, at 4:45PM, I lost my Doggie Daughter Gracie. She
was my first CockerSpaniel and she was with me through every trial and
tribulation from Friday April 11th 2003 until that agonizing, bitter
afternoon when she died of a heart problem.
I stumbled around for three weeks trying to make sense of it. I new
she was an old dog, but still! In my mind she never got older then 5.
That's how old she was the day my parents brought her home from the
shelter.
I couldn't bear not finding her on the couch or not tripping over her
at night when I got up to go to the restroom. She would lay in front
of my bedroom door at night as if she were guarding me.
It was so bad that night as I bathed and brushed her for the last
time, all I could think about was crawling into the ground with her.
My best friend Holly actually stood there holding onto me after I'd
placed her in the ground as if she new my thoughts. I would go outside
at night and lay atop her grave in the snow and weep for her bitterly.

I told my friend I had to get another dog, another CockerSpaniel. That
was the only solution.
On Sunday Febuary 15th, my Father and I pulled up to a rescue mission
an hour and a half away from home.
We went in to see the CockerSpaniel the woman had said we could look at.
She was the only Cocker the woman had and was terrified of everything.
"She's from a puppy mill." the woman said off handedly as if it was no big deal.
Once the woman found out I was blind that only complicated matters.
"She runs from everyone. You won't be able to catch her. It won't work."
She and my Dad carried on a conversation while I sat with this
nameless beautiful baby girl. I had to sit in the corner with her
because she wouldn't come to me.
She lay very still on her stomach, head on paws, nothing even letting
me know she was alive but her panting. I sat with her for 2 hours and
still not one movement.
The woman was still not sure but I said:
"Call our vet, check our references! I want to take care of her! I
know what it's like to have society not believe in you, I can take
care of this dog!"
She finally agreed on a "trial" basis. I had to agree to call her and
let her know how the dog was doing to.
I settled on Sadie as her former name was Socks and Sadie was closely
related to Gradie, which my Dad called Gracie often.
On the drive home she licked my hand. I new we were set! We had to be!
At home though, she wouldn't eat for 3 days. She seemed to hate my
sister's dog Duke, even though he was just a big furball trying to get
acquainted with her.
She never showed signs of agression, just acted like a puppet on a string.
Everywhere I went, she went in my arms. Where ever I sat her, she
stayed until I was ready to take her somewhere else.
She was afraid of the children, shaky about being on a leash, confused
on the grass outside and the carpet inside. She wouldn't even look at
you if you called her name.
She hid in my room whenever I'd let her get away with it and would try
to escape the few times we let her off the leash.
She ate wet puppy food for the first month.
Fast forward to today, Independence Day 2010.
She still doesn't really know how to play with other dogs and isn't
sure of the kids. She runs away if she comes into the livingroom and
discovers that you've seen her make her grand entrance!
She still isn't even sure about toys and doesn't play fetch, but when
I ask her who the baby is she crawls to me on her belly. When she
sleeps her head lays on her front paws and her back paws stretch out
behind her, feet pointing out sideways! She loves to be outside and
runs around crazily in the grass.
She's a chocolate colored CockerSpaniel, which is very rare, so Dad
says in the winter when the snow is piled high she looks like a little
white calf running through it.
And just this evening I heard her chewing on something so I rushed
over to investigate! She had dragged Duke's chew toy into my room and
claimed it as her own! I couldn't have been more ecstatic!
Out of my anguish over losing Gracie came something absolutely beautiful.
I believe Gracie sent Sadie to me not just for her sake, but for mine.
Through Sadie, I'm slowly learning to push my own boundaries and
expand my own horizons.
Not only am I blind, but I was also born with an extremely rare birth
defect called a Tessier Cleft. Since I was 9 years old I've been
hiding myself, isolating myself from the world in my bedroom.
After I graduated public schools in December 2003 (graduated 6 months
ahead of my class), after my mom left my Dad in March of 2004, I had
only put up more walls, more defenses.
I believe Gracie sent Sadie to me knowing that through helping Sadie
find her joy, her Perfect Doggieness, I would also start trying to
find my joy, my Perfect Humannity.
And she was right.
Thank you Gracie!

Grace, (Gracie's) Eulogy

Originally Posted: Monday, March 09, 2009
Written: aprox 6 days after my Doggie Daughter Gracie died.
Current mood:Somber/sad
Category: Writing and Poetry
So it's been 6 days, almost one full week. I still don't know whether
I'm coming or going. My Doggie daughter (Gracie Marie) is gone, and I
still don't know. I can listen to "Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces"
even though I played it while my sister and I washed her off and
brushed out her fur and cut the mats out. I can hear it and usually be
okay while hearing it. I can't decide what to eat though. I can't
decide if I'm hungry or not hungry. Sick or not sick. I can't stand at
the sink brushing my teeth without having someone to talk to and not
remember the way her paws clutched at me in the throws of death. I
can't stand to be alone to long but I can't stand to be around most
people either. I can't stand being in this house without her in it,
but I can't stand leaving this house because she's buried outside and
I don't want to leave her alone. She's not alone since her body is all
that remains and her spirit is at home on the other side, but I still
can't stand to leave her alone. I can't remember anything but I can't
forget her last 40 minutes of life, some of it spent arguing with Dad
over stupid money I couldn't find to take her to the vet that seems so
irrelevant now and was such a waste of time! I was going to get her to
the vet, going to help her but she died before I could. I hear her
panting, feel her heart racing beneath my palm. I remember patting her
and feel her fur and hear her struggling to breathe. She tried to go
potty but couldn't. Dad tried to get her to drink water but she
couldn't. I tried to save her but I couldn't. It was just like that. I
was watching L&O SVU: "Rage" & then my sister is saying:
"We think Grace's dying!" She's crying & I'm asking
"Why? Where is she?"
When I get out there, their all sitting around her on the flor, on the
couches & their crying or alternately acting calm. They aren't even
doing anything! Their just sitting there, so I sit and reach out for
her. My mother nudges her forward and I take hold of her, start
patting her and trying to calm her down. I say
"Call the vet."
They ask for the number and I give it. They call, ask me how old she
is and for once, I hear myself giving the correct answer:
"Thirteen."
Usually I screw up and say she's five. In my mind, Gracie is five, was
always five. She never grew older, never changed. She just didn't,
couldn't, wouldn't. But she did. I was worried about what it would be
like for her to go blind since she was a Cocker Spaniel. Little did I
realize that her heart murmur would take her first.
I feel her spirit pushing me forward, hear that long breath. The one
that seemed to take almost a full minute, and then there was no more
panting. I thought that was it, but she kept fighting. She kept taking
small breaths, inhale stop. Exhale stop. Inhale stop. Exhale stop. She
should have died at 4:15 but fought like hell for another 20 minutes.
It was 4:35 when she finally gave up. I can feel the couple of times
her head seemed to spin completely around. It jerked and brushed the
side of my face as I held her tight. I can feel her front paws
clutching at me and remember that sound her head made as it moved like
that. I can feel the jerking and hear the breathing. I was doing
things before for the most part, but now I'm home and we went shopping
but couldn't stay gone. It's 2AM and I'm sitting here typing now. I'm
sick and trying to hold in all my tears. It seems like their endless.
I remember wanting to hit Mom because she new Grace was gone but she
said:
"Lisa, c'mon. Maybe it's just the flu and she's really sick and we'll
take her to the vet and she'll be alright! They'll help her!"
Then she started crying. I was stuck with her and Becca & Eddie and
Dad, Bella and Cymmy kept coming into the living room to investigate.
It was like a fucking circus and I just wanted to hit them all! I
wanted to run into my room and lay on the bed with her in my arms and
never let go. I wanted to take her away where I could keep her all to
myself, didn't have to let anyone else see or touch or take care of
her. I wanted it just to be us! Her and I and noone else! I remember
Dad saying we should take her outside. He opened the door and I set
her down on the porch. He walked out and closed the door and I put on
my shoes and coat and was gone out to the porch to. He said she didn't
look well at all and I picked her up and held her. I kept saying
everything would be okay. We went back in and she had had her first
spasm outside. I knew she was leaving but I couldn't let her. I wanted
her to stay with me! I wanted her here but I did finally tell her to
let go. She still kept fighting and I had to say it again. I could
bearly get the words out. It was like my entire throat closed up and I
couldn't breathe let alone speak. Then there was mom calling her
sister and me phoning Holly and the other mother. There was brushing
and petting and holding. I asked Becca if she thought Mom would make
our BLTs we'd been planning for dinner, I just felt like we were
supposed to keep moving. 6 days later, I'm still trying to move. It's
like everything is still in slow motion. I eat because I'm "supposed
to". I talk to slow and swallow to fast and don't chew at all.
Nothing's real but everything's to real and I feel nothing and
everything. I cry and then I'm "fine" but not really. Fine just means
not crying. Crying means not fine. Food is ok or bad. Ok means "good"
and bad means "not tasting, not feeling textures". I'm either
comfortable "not cold" or uncomfortable "freezing from the inside
out." Music doesn't even help any more. I sing and I talk to people
and I type (some) and I check my youtube account, but I don't really
do anything. I'm watching myself do everything. My brain is overloaded
with images of Grace. Like a friend said,
"You want to focus not on the bad memories that make you cry, but on
the good memories that make you cry."
She's right, everything makes me cry. Seeing Duke and Snowball and
Tigger and KittyKitty and Belle and Carmel makes me cry. If I'm not
near them, that makes me cry to.
I keep thinking I should have made it to the vet, should have saved
her. She lived a good life but I still should have helped. I can feel
her body in my arms, she was warm because I kept her that way. I held
her almost every second that we weren't brushing her. If I wasn't
holding her I was lying curled up around her. No reason to protect her
in death but that's what I was doing. My arms don't ache anymore ,
neither to my legs from standing with her so long. Now the only things
that ache are my heart and soul, both things that are intangible. I
can hear my sister saying ew and cringing when I moved her body and
blood came out of her mouth and nose. I can see her lying on the floor
and hear her boyfriend telling her to get up and hear her saying that
she doesn't want to. It should have been me on the floor but it
couldn't be me because I had to take care of Gracie. She needed me and
I couldn't fumble the ball, I had to help her, but I did fumble the
ball because she isn't here. All I have left of my baby daughter is a
collar! A collar and to many memories that I can't live with or
without! A collar that smells like her and animals all around me who
belong to others, to remind me that I'm not owned anymore, that I
don't belong to a pet anymore. Animals that simultaneously comfort and
discomfort me. Animals that simultaneously love me and torment me just
by their existence.
It was suggested that maybe if I could figure out why Grace was put
here I could figure out why I was here. In other words, why I was
supposed to go on without her. I think she was here to teach me
independence. I remember my parents saying that I could take her for
walks. There was my incentive to gain more independence and stop being
such a chicken shit! My words not theirs. But I didn't take her for
walks, I didn't hold her as much as I should have or play with her as
much as I should have or value her as much as I should have or even
realize just how much I loved her! I didn't brush her as much as I
should have or cut out the mats from her fur as much as I should have,
and although none of those things would have stopped her from dying
when it was her time they still plague me. Their glaring inadequacies
on my part and now I have no way to remedy them because she's gone.
She loves me unconditionally still, I feel her here, but I don't love
me unconditionally and now everything I should have done or didn't do
haunts me. I shouldn't have let her drink out of the toilet even
though Dad thought it was a great idea. I shouldn't have spanked her
so hard that she cried out the day she bit Bella's ear and I shouldn't
have tossed her away from me the day she bit me after I spanked her
for biting Becca. All these things I shouldn't have done and even
though I apologized for them and she forgave me I can't forgive me now
that she's gone and I feel like I have to apologize for them over and
over again. I feel like I have to make her understand just how sorry I
really am and that I didn't mean to treat her the way she was treated
before she came to me. She was abused before, we got her from the
animal shelter and I never meant to do that to her again. I wanted to
make her life better and pamper and protect her and keep her in the
lap of luxury like she deserved. I feel her pushing me to move on but
I don't want to. I want to go outside and lay on her grave forever, to
just freeze to death and feel nothing. I want to crawl out of my skin
and run and run and run until this is all over and I can't feel or
remember any of it anymore. I want to forget everything and remember
everything and keep busy and not move at all. I want to go back to
Friday and apologize for sitting on her paws accidentally when I went
to check the answering machine and she was laying in her usual spot at
the end of the couch. I want to hold her all day long and give her the
bath I was supposed to give her and let her know how much I love her!
I want her back!!
Please stay my Gracie, my baby, please stay!!!
---
Gracie Marie Medina
Best Doggie Daughter of them all!
Original birthdate unnone.
First birthday with us 4/11/02.
Died Friday 1/23/09 4:35PM.
Mommy misses you baby!

9:04 AM