Goodbye, my sunshine!

Dog heaven has a mischievous new angel now! On a warm November evening, about eight years ago, we adopted a quiet, shy little puppy from CUPA(Compassion Unlimited Plus Action), Bangalore and that day, our lives changed forever! At the adoption center, where every other puppy was vying for our attention, she was tucked away in a corner easily missed if  we didn’t look too carefully. We held her in our arms and right then we knew that we wanted to give little baby with the biggest, most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen a forever home!She was such a kind and gentle (but naughty) soul with many, many adorable quirks and idiosyncrasies! Owing to her many, many quirks and idiosyncrasies(yes, we considered dog therapy of sorts 😉 ) we named her Phoebe!

As a puppy, she did not trust easily. Each step taken was a measured step. She took her own sweet little time to explore the house, to get to know you and to make herself feel at home. Once Phoebe was all settled in, she was a bundle of joy and mystery. Her quirkiness had no bounds and each of them either made us roll on the floor laughing or make us want to pull our hair out. 🙂 ❤  There was this one time my parents thought she went missing! They called out for her but they didn’t hear any sounds of acknowledgement(Back when she was a puppy, she barely barked! )! A quick check around the house was futile. They went looking in the neighborhood for a while. They couldn’t find her. The neighborhood kids began to search the streets too! 🙂 My mother came home to check if Pheebs had found herself back home while the rest looked. She looked inside all over again to find Phoebe who had managed to lock herself in the bathroom! Yeeeesh! She had frightened the living daylights out of my parents while I was busy in college. 😉  Also, Pheebs could never, and I mean never, leave a door inside the house closed. The only door that was allowed to stay closed was the front door. No door to the bedrooms AND the bathrooms could stay closed at home. So we stopped locking the doors and just closed them. She wouldn’t have that either. So often she has come barging into the bathroom when the door was closed! You can imagine how petrified and/or embarrassed we were when we thought someone had walked into us doing our business in the bathroom! 😉 😉 😉 😉

Phoebe almost always gave her squeaky toys and (some) bones to the street dogs we feed outside. She went to the balcony and plop!! A few minutes later we’d hear loud squeaks from happy doggies outside! 🙂 She taught us to love immensely, especially the ones with little to nothing. Phoebe also made friends with a squirrel on the roof who would visit her ever so often and they would spend hours on the roof playing with each other!

That apart, Phoebe always managed to brighten up days with no color! She was forever by your side, checking up on you, if she thought you were sick or feeling low. Pheebs loved everyone and everything, although loud groups of people and firecrackers scared the living daylights out of her. Oh, I don’t know why this is, but every time she went out for a walk, she never crossed a particular line. That’s how far she would go and then turn back. It was like her self made Lakshman Rekha(see meaning) 😉  . She was the most adorable baby in the whole wide world!

Phoebe was diagnosed with arthritis about a year ago and she was on supplements and medication for it. About six months ago, she was diagnosed with an enlarged heart when she was taken in for an issue with her liver. She had been on added medication since then. Towards the end, she was on 5-8 pills and supplements. She had good days and terrible days. The Vet had given her six months and for some reason I wanted to believe that we’d be one of those blessed few who’d see their baby live a long long life. In the end, she showed severe respiratory problems. She could not eat, sleep or sit. No medication helped. She paced around for about 36 hours before she went to her favorite spot on the bed, put her head on the pillow and passed away due to a massive cardiac arrest.

With her gone, I feel like I’ve lost a part of me. Every time I think of her, it feels like someone is trying to rip my heart out. What I would give to hold her and look into her big brown eyes one last time and tell her that she will be loved and remembered forever and for always and that she will always be a “goooooooooood girl”! She loved it when we said she was a good girl. She’s a part of me that will never fade. Fly high my little angel! Thank you for all the wonderful years you’ve given me! More so, thank you for all the love you showed me! I know you’re being the biggest goofball in heaven right now! Stay happy and stay strong! You are my best. I miss you and even after days with you gone, your beautiful memories are breaking my heart! I miss you and I will always love you!

“They say death is hardest on the living. It’s tough to actually say goodbye. Sometimes its impossible. You never really stop feeling the loss. It’s what makes things so bitter-sweet.” – Meredith Grey from Grey’s Anatomy

-Trupti | Novembrella